Police call off search operation for four-year-old boy

KUCHING - The search operation for a missing four-year-old boy, Eric Chang Wei Jie, around the waters of the Muara Tebas river here since last Sunday has been called off.

Kuching district police chief ACP Ashmon Bajah said although various search initiatives had been taken by the operations team, Eric's search had been restricted by several factors.

He explained that the factors of terrain, the threat of wild animals, weather and tidal conditions at the location have made the search operation difficult.

"Until now, the search operation has not found any clues and it was stopped at 6pm today.

"The investigation team will continue to focus on scientific investigations to unravel the available clues," he said in a statement here, last night.

Ashmon said the police also welcome any information from the public regarding the case.

On March 14, police classified Eric's disappearance as a murder case with two suspects, namely the guardian couple who had been arrested and remanded for further investigation.

Eric had been reported missing from a house in the Bintawa residential area, here, earlier on March 7. - BERNAMA