Kidnap boy in custody court case

Described by police as a "confusing" case, Michael Verster's abduction has horrified residents of Pinetown, west of Durban, who have spent the past week distributing pamphlets and circulating e-mails displaying the boy's photo and his mother's phone numbers.

Michael's mother, Monique, said she dropped her redheaded son at Pinetown Primary School early on April 28.

"Someone from the school called to tell me Michael was not in class and that his friends saw him willingly jump into a car with a white man shortly after I had dropped him," she said.

She is convinced that her child's abductor is not a stranger: "Michael would never go near a stranger," she said.

The police widened their search to Vereeniging, Meyerton, Pretoria and Vanderbijlpark when they discovered that the boy's father, whom Monique and the police refused to name, lives in Gauteng.

Warrant Officer Mazwi Mbatha said the boy's father had told police he did not know where his son was.

The boy was last seen in a navy blue jersey, white shirt, grey shorts, long grey socks and black shoes.