In Denial

Dale Lapthorne, father of missing girl, Britt, fears that his daughter may have been kidnapped by Human Traffickers while backpacking in Croatia.
He said, on ABC Radio, that Croation officials strongly denied this possibility stating that no trafficking of women into sexual servitude takes place in Croatia.




US State Department Reports dispute their claim:

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

Republic of Croatia
[ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Croatia is located in the northwest corner of the Balkan Peninsula and is bounded by Slovenia (NW), Hungary (NE), Serbia and Montenegro (E), by Bosnia and Hercegovina (S & E), and by the Adriatic Sea in the west. Its capital city is Zagreb. Following political changes in 2000, Croatia is gradually moving towards a fully democratic society with a free market economy.

Croatia is a source, transit, and increasingly a destination country, for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Croatian females are trafficked within the country and women and girls from Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other parts of Eastern Europe are trafficked to and through Croatia for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Croatian men are occasionally trafficked for forced labor. Victims transiting Croatia from Southeastern Europe are trafficked into Western Europe for commercial sexual exploitation. IOM reported continued seasonal rotation of international women in prostitution to and from the Dalmatian coast during high tourist seasons, raising concerns about trafficking. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008

Up-Date on Hunt for Missing Girl.
Britt hunt intensifies, Facebook page sealed12:00 AEST Wed Oct 1 2008
The father of missing Melbourne backpacker Britt Lapthorne says the investigation into his daughter's disappearance after a night out in Dubrovnik is making "huge progress" after the case made the front pages of major newspapers in Croatia.

Dale Lapthorne's comments came as the 11,000-member Facebook group set up to track Britt down was made off limits to the public, after what her father suspects was the intervention of the Australian Federal Police [AFP].

Mr Lapthorne, who has so far been very critical of the search effort, today said Croatian police had stepped up their hunt for his 21-year-old daughter, who was last seen outside a Dubrovnik nightclub 12 days ago.

"The intensity [of the investigation] has improved dramatically," Mr Lapthorne told ninemsn.

"They've made huge progress, which they should have made weeks ago. My son tells me things are happening."

Local police were overnight expected to begin watching long-awaited CCTV footage of the area outside Club Fuego, between the hours of 12-4am, when its thought Britt may have left the popular tourist nighspot.

"It was OK and there was some reasonable footage," Mr Lapthorne said, adding the investigation prevented him from going into specific details.

Mr Lapthorne hailed the attention his daughter's case was finally receiving in Croatia, after he publicly lobbied Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Steven Smith to weigh in on his daughter's case.

Mr Rudd yesterday told TODAY that all resources would be made available to find "this young one".

Mr Rudd's comments had made the front pages of major newspapers in Croatia and lifted the case's profile, Mr Lapthorne said.

Mr Smith earlier announced the deployment of an Australian Federal Police to Dubrovnik, who is due to arrive there later today.

The arrival of investigators from the Croatian capital Zagreb was also a big factor in improving the search effort, Mr Lapthorne said.

Britt's parents had been critical of how long it had taken authorities to inspect the CCTV footage, on Monday accusing the local police of lying about whether they had seen it at all.

Meanwhile, the Facebook group titled "MISSING PERSON, BRITT LAPTHORNE!!!", created to help locate the RMIT student, was shut down to the public overnight.

The page's administrator Tara Reynolds set the group to private, meaning the public can no longer view any news or the more than 1000 wall posts that been left by last night.

Ms Reynolds, who is in Dubrovnik with Britt's brother Darren Lapthorne, left a brief explanation on the page:

"DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE SENSITIVE SITUATION AT THE MOMENT I HAVE TEMPORARILY MADE THIS GROUP PAGE PRIVATE," she wrote.

"THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE POSTED ON THIS SITE, YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WONDERFUL IN HELPING FIND BRITT."

Mr Lapthorne this morning said he had not spoken to Ms Reynolds since the page had been shut down and did not know why it was no longer available.

"We can't access it either," Mr Lapthorne said from his home in Melbourne.

"I don't know why. I assume the AFP have [intervened]. That's all I can assume."

Mr Lapthorne said the matter had been complicated by the fact he had lost internet access for much of the night.

Ms Reynolds and Darren Lapthorne did not answer calls made by ninemsn this morning.

A second, smaller group set up by Ms Reynolds asking for photos of the missing backpacker is still accessible.

Britt’s mother, Elke Lapthorne, was a regular contributor to the message board of the larger group, offering latest information and thanking the public for their support.

Yesterday, the Lapthornes said they planned to put up a 100,000 Euro ($177,000) reward for information about their daughter's whereabouts.
By Jay Savage, ninemsn