Could missing phone lead to sex attacker?

POLICE investigating the terrifying knife-point abduction and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl on her way to school are trying to trace her mobile phone in the hope it will lead them to the paedophile.The Dollar Academy pupil believes she lost the black Nokia E63, which looks like a Blackberry, during the attack but police have searched and not found it.

They are working with telecommunications companies to try and trace the phone's signal in the hope it will help them locate the attacker.

They are also appealing for anyone who may have seen the phone, or the man matching the description of the attacker with the phone, or been offered it, to come forward.

He is in his mid 30s, about 5ft 8ins, with short and receding brown hair, and had bad discolouration of his facial skin.

He stopped the girl as she walked to the 9,810-a-year private school in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, on 28 June, at 8:20am, marched her for 200 yards at knifepoint past parents and other pupils to his car, and then drove her eight miles to a remote spot just off the B910, in an area near Linn Mill. There he sexually assaulted her, before ordering her out of the vehicle.

Detective Chief Inspector Willie Cravens, who is leading the investigation, said: "We know the girl had the phone at the time of the abduction. However, we don't know what's happened to it after that.

"Searches have been carried out of where she was taken from and where the incident happened without finding it. We can only make the assumption that it's been lost somewhere or someone has taken it from her."

The girl raised the alarm after she was freed, flagging down a passing car at 9am.

Police are not linking the incident with other attacks, although they have looked at an attempted abduction in Kilsyth, 17 miles away, last month, and unsubstantiated reports of another one in Tillicoultry, just three miles away, four days after the attack in Dollar.

They have also looked at the rape of a 16-year-old girl in Crewe Toll, Edinburgh, on Wednesday, and are sharing notes with Lothian and Borders Police, but do not believe the same man carried out both attacks.

DCI Cravens said: "At the moment there's nothing to indicate our attacker is linked to anything else. We've got a big team working on this inquiry, which I'm now leading, carrying out door-to-door and forensic inquiries. One of the main lines of inquiry remains the green car and we have collected a vast quantity of CCTV footage from houses, businesses and councils to try and identify it."

The green car was seen stuck in traffic at a junction between Dollar and Linn Mill. The driver reportedly appeared anxious and eager to get away.

Police are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen the car and driver and know its make and model, or its number plate.

A team of 20 detectives and other specialist officers have been assigned to the investigation. Forensics searches have taken place in the areas around High Street and Hillfoots Road, where the girl was abducted, and door-to-door inquiries have been carried out in the area. The driver reportedly appeared anxious and eager to get away.

Police are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen the car and driver and know its make and model, or its number plate.

A team of 20 detectives and other specialist officers have been assigned to the investigation. Forensics searches have taken place in the areas around High Street and Hillfoots Road, where the girl was abducted, and door-to-door inquiries have been carried out in the area.