Police have been contacted by a man on behalf of the father of the 7-year-old girl who was bundled into a car outside her school in the central Dutch town of Ede on Wednesday. He says the girl's father abducted her.  

It was already considered extremely likely that a relative of the girl was responsible for her abduction. Father and daughter are now thought to be abroad but, despite this, the police are continuing the search for the missing girl in the Netherlands.

Following the kidnapping, police issued a nationwide Amber Alert which leads to thousands of people receiving text messages asking them to come forward as witnesses. The car in which the girl was taken was found a few hours after her disappearance.