NT Police working with interstate officers to find missing Darwin 5-year-old, Grace Hughes

Conspiracy theorists are clouding a nationwide investigation into the disappearance of a five-year-old Darwin girl and her mum.

FRINGE conspiracy groups are clouding a nationwide investigation into the disappearance of a five-year-old Darwin girl and her mother.

NT Police are working with officers from around the country in their search for five-year-old Grace Hughes and her mother Laura Hinks, aka Laura Bolt.

Police allege Grace was taken by her 34-year-old mother and a 50-year-old woman from an address at Hidden Valley Rd, Berrimah at 1pm on Sunday, August 7.

Neither Grace or Ms Hinks have been seen since.

Detective Superintendent Kirsten Engels said a number of fringe groups were exploiting the disappearance of Grace.

“Police are aware that a number of peripheral groups with their own ideologies and agendas have inserted themselves into this matter,” Superintendent Engels said.

“I would say that is white noise. Our sole focus is on the return of Grace.

Superintendent Engels said “every effort” was being put into hiding the missing five-year-old.

“Which can be nothing but traumatic for the child.”

She said for Grace’s sake anyone with information should immediately come forward.

“To be very clear, (it’s believed) Grace was abducted and there is a legal requirement for her return,” Superintendent Engels said.

“We know that as time goes on and she remains removed from her home, her school, her friends and her siblings that this will be having a detrimental affect on her psychological and emotional wellbeing.

“We do know that there will be some people with some information to offer, and we’re asking them to come forward.

“Do the right thing, contact police.”

Superintendent Engels said police were working with police in other states in case the pair had jumped the Territory border.

“Every detail we get, we will be following up on,” she said.

“We’re not ruling out the possibility that they have gone interstate.

“I haven’t had any information as to where they are — that would be wonderful to know.”

Queensland, Western Australian, South Australian, New South Wales, Victorian and Tasmanian police have all shared appeals to help find the missing mother and child.

“NT Police have engaged with interstate jurisdictions to assist with investigations,” a spokesman said.

A 50-year-old woman appeared in Darwin Local Court on Monday charged in relation to Grace’s disappearance.

UPDATE SAT AUG 13: POLICE suspect a five-year-old girl reportedly taken by her mother is being kept hidden following a week-long search.

NT Police are imploring those who know where five-year-old Grace Hughes and her mother Laura Hinks, aka Laura Bolt, are hiding to come forward.

Detective Superintendent Kirsten Engels said Grace was taken from an address at Hidden Valley Rd, Berrimah at 1pm on Sunday August 7, and has not been seen since.

“She was taken without permission from a supervised parental visit,” Superintendent Engels said.

Superintendent Engels said police were urgently seeking information to find both the 34-year-old and her child, with their main concern Grace’s wellbeing.

“Knowing this would have been a very traumatic event, being removed from this meeting and separated from her siblings,” she said.

“It is likely to have a detrimental effect on her emotional and psychological wellbeing.”

“We know some effort is being put in to hide Grace.

“That would be very frightening for a five-year-old child.

“She needs to be returned so she can go to school and be with her friends.

“Whatever issues are preventing her return should and could be delt with in more appropriate ways.

“Taking Grace in this manner is not appropriate.

“We know there are people out there that will have information about Grace and Laura, and we are asking you, appealing to you, to do the right thing.”

Superintendent Engels said any information, no matter how small, could be critical.

“We will follow up any and all leads, including the possibility that Laura and Grace have gone interstate” she said.

“We are throwing every police resource we have into this investigation, and we will continue to do so until we find Grace.”

Police urged anyone with information to come forward, by contacting NT Police on 131 444 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Please quote the reference number 10082521.

UPDATE THURS: POLICE are “working around the clock” to try to find a missing 5-year-old Darwin girl who disappeared after being picked up by her mother on Sunday.

Grace Hughes and her mother, Laura Hinks (aka Laura Bolt), 34, have not been since Ms Hinks picked Grace up for a parental visit from an address in Hidden Valley at about 1pm.

On Thursday, Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Jon Beer said investigators were continuing to appeal for information from the public about their whereabouts amid concerns for their welfare.

“We are investigating all possibilities, all leads, including the possibility they have left the Darwin area,” he said.

Grace Hughes, 5, was last seen on Sunday.

“Our team is working around the clock to locate them and make sure they are safe.”

Grace is described as having a fair complexion, with brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a short-sleeved, white dress, white socks and black sneakers.

Ms Hinks is described as having a slim build with a fair complexion and dark hair and dark eyes.

She was last seen wearing a white and green floral-patterned, ankle-length dress or skirt with a white/cream long-sleeved shirt over the top.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact NT Police immediately on 131 444, quoting reference number 10082521.

EARLIER: POLICE are appealing for urgent help to find a 5-year-old girl who has not been seen since being picked up for a parental visit by her mother on Sunday.

Investigators say they hold concerns for the welfare of Grace Hughes and her mother, Laura Hinks, after the pair were last seen leaving an address on Hidden Valley road at about 1pm.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jon Beer said Ms Hinks’s last known address was in Moulden, but the 34-year-old “no longer appears to be living there”.

“Anyone who has seen Grace or Laura, or knows of their whereabouts, is urged to contact NT Police immediately on 131 444,” he said.

Laura Hinks and her 5-year-old daughter Grace Hughes have been missing since Sunday.

Grace has a fair complexion, brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a short-sleeved white dress, white socks and black sneakers.

Ms Hinks is described as having a slim build with a fair complexion and dark hair and eyes. She was last seen wearing a white and green floral-patterned ankle-length dress or skirt with a white/cream long-sleeved shirt over the top.

Anyone with any information is asked to quote reference number 10082521.