Former Belgrade police chief weighs in on case of missing toddler: Parents hold the key, they must answer this

Photo: Tanjug/Rade Prelic, Nikola Andjic

"Parents are the ones who have to explain a lot. First, why did they wait to report the disappearance? As far as I know, they waited for two hours. It's known that when a child goes missing, that should be immediately reported in order to react quickly," Marko Nicovic, a former head of the Belgrade police, told Telegraf.rs.

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According to Nicovic, the police are moving in the right direction, because they are combing every inch of the countryside, but he also hopes that border crossings are thoroughly checked, because he is not ruling out the possibility that 2-year-old Danka Ilic has been kidnapped.

"It could be anything, no possibility is ruled out. If the mother said that she left the little girl alone for just a minute, the question arises, where could a 2-year-old child have gone? How far before the mother finds her? Second, why did they wait two hours (to report the case to the police)? There was room for a kidnapping to take place during that time, and we know that the border is close (the child disappeared near Bor, eastern Serbia, close to borders with Romania/Bulgaria) - but also for many other things. Many questions are open and what remains is to wait for the investigative authorities to complete their work," Nicovic told Telegraf.

On Friday, the search for Danka Ilic (2) was in its fourth day. 18 more firefighters and a decorated search-and-rescue Serbian police dog, Zigi, jointed the effort this morning.

Excavators were digging all day on Thursday, removing garbage and debris from around the family-owned weekend home where Danka Ilic is said to have last been seen, and heavy machinery was also working there on Friday.

(Telegraf.rs)