Police detain man suspected of blackmailing missing girl’s parents

Police in the western city of Plzeň have detained a 24-year-old man suspected of blackmailing the family of a missing nine-year-old girl. Police say the man demanded 250,000 crowns for the return of the missing girl and demanded no police involvement. The man faces fraud charges and a jail sentence of up to two years. The nine-year-old girl, Anna, disappeared from a Prague suburb in mid-October and has not been found in spite of intensive police searches. The family offered a reward of 3.5 million crowns for information leading to her return or her takers.

Author: Chris Johnstone