POLICE ARE questioning a man and woman about how a 17-month-old girl went missing in Co Down on Monday and was subsequently found alive and well at a caravan site in Scotland.
Sophie Anderson had been in the care of the Southern Trust’s social services since her birth and had been with foster parents. Her natural parents had been granted access.
Social services had arranged for her mother to collect her on Monday morning to take her to a toddlers’ group in Banbridge. However, the pair didn’t arrive at the playgroup and the PSNI and Garda were informed as well as police forces in England and Scotland.
Closed circuit TV images later identified a woman and young child boarding a ferry from Larne to Stranraer. It was also reported that another adult, thought to be the child’s father, had taken an earlier ferry to Scotland. Sophie was found unharmed late on Tuesday at a caravan park in Dumfries.
Lucy Anderson (30) and Stuart Creaney (23) were questioned by Scottish police and are expected to be returned to Co Down for further questioning by the PSNI.
Police had earlier said they were concerned for the child’s welfare because her natural parents “didn’t have parenting skills”.
Jim Wells, a South Down Assembly member and chairman of the Stormont health committee said very few arrangements involving parents and children in care go wrong. However, he suggested an investigation should begin by the social services trust.
“The difficulty, though, is that there are thousands of access arrangements like this going on in Northern Ireland every month,” he said.
The Stormont department of health and social services has declined to comment.