Investigation launched into disappearance of 10-year-old girl

Police in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, have launched an investigation into the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl whose mother claims may have been abducted on her way back from school in Toumba on Thursday.

Markella Verami’s mother told Antenna TV on Friday morning that a fellow pupil claimed the 10-year-old girl left with a woman who accosted her as the children were leaving school at around 1.30 p.m. on Thursday. The woman reportedly called Makella by her name.

Authorities have also issued an Amber Alert appealing to the public for information on the movements of the 10-year-old, who was wearing black leggings, a brown T-shirt and black shoes, and was carrying a light-blue backpack with flowers on it at the time of her disappearance. She has long brown hair, is 1.50 meters tall and weighs 46 kilograms, according to the Amber Alert.

Anyone with information that could help investigators is urged to call the police’s 100 emergency number or the 11600 hotline for missing children.