By CASEY NEILL
A FRANTIC mum went to the Dandenong Police Station counter on 15 April living every parent’s worst nightmare – her daughter was missing.
Natalie Ann Van Damme suffers from Down syndrome and was due to return to her home in Hawdon Street, Dandenong North about 4pm.
First Constable Bianca McKay said Natalie caught a bus from a care centre in Walker Street, Dandenong, about 3pm.
“She normally catches the bus straight home from school. She has a pretty strict routine,” she said.
But the 22-year-old had got on the wrong bus.
Officers put the word out to patrols, gave PSOs from Dandenong Railway Station Natalie’s photograph and contacted the bus company.
“They gave us a location where someone had got off the bus because they were on the wrong bus,” First Const McKay said.
“We thought it was her. That gave us a location of Heatherton Road and EastLink.”
They called nearby businesses and hospitals and when Natalie’s parents said she was scared of the dark searched areas with lighting, including schools and fish and chip shops.
First Const McKay eventually clocked off for the day but couldn’t switch off.
“All I could picture was her sitting there crying somewhere,” she said.
“She’s obviously quite vulnerable and it was getting later and darker and cold.”
She woke up to check her phone for news throughout the night and was delighted to find in the morning that Natalie was safe and sound.
“She’d stayed on the wrong bus until she got to Waverley Gardens,” she said.
About 1am security guards checked her proof of age card and called Natalie’s mum, listed on the back as her emergency contact.
The family paid a visit to those involved in the search the next morning, and Natalie promised to call triple zero if she ever landed in a similar situation.
“She’d made us a thank you card and brought in chocolates,” First Const McKay said.
They gave her a tour of the police station and a van.
“She got to turn the lights and sirens on. She was a bit of a celebrity at the end,” she said.
“I’d actually met them once before.
“I was on night shift last Christmas and they always bring in a present for the police.
“Every day there’s missing people. You do get those incidents that touch you.
“It’s nice to have a happy ending. I’m just glad that she was found.
“She was worth the trouble, she was a sweetie.”
