Svetlana Ižika has been missing with her three-year-old daughter Karīna Ižika for four days. Their last location is Krāslava municipality Robežnieki civil parish, next to the Latvian-Belarusian border, where the two visited the woman's parents' farm.
Vladislavs Okuņevs, head of the South Latgale Precinct of the State Police (VP) Latgale Region Administration, said that during their visit on October 1, Svetlana and her daughter, without notifying relatives, left the place and went in a direction that is not yet known. "They [parents] carried out active searches themselves on day one. Have circled the village roads as well as neighboring villages,” Okuņevs said.
There have been several times so far when, without warning anyone, a woman has changed her place of life or whereabouts, but this is the first time going no-contact for such a long time. Both Svetlana and the three-year-old have health issues.
“Health problems are there, but not so serious that they are not able to look after themselves and not be able to turn to those around them for help if necessary,” the police spokesman explained. “There have been reports from relatives that she has also previously left her residence without warning or has suddenly ended contact with her relatives.”
Although a three-year-old child has disappeared, social services and Orphan's court pointed the television to contact the other authority and did not provide a specific answer on the responsibilities and actions of the services.
Deputy Head of Social Service of Krāslava Municipality Elita Trūle pointed out that the woman and her daughter were not declared in Krāslava Municipality and had not previously come to the sight of this social service.
“The mother Svetlana is declared in the city of Daugavpils and the girl, if I'm not mistaken, in Rīga or somewhere. I can't tell if she lives there, because we can see that Daugavpils has given them some help, too. She has not been declared to us and we are not bothering them either,” Trūle said.
Meanwhile, Daugavpils city Orphan's Court indicated that there is an administrative case in the record of the mother, which has been taken over from the Orphan's Court of another local government and is not related to the child: “The Orphan's Court shall protect the rights and interests of the child and the person under guardianship and shall not be entitled to disclose the information at the disposal of the Orphan's Court.”
For the time being, the State Police does not plan to involve volunteers in the search, but given that the woman is with a minor child, the search has been announced nationwide, as well a physical survey of the neighborhood has been carried out.
"Also visited the abandoned uninhabited buildings, houses. Unfortunately, with no results. The state Fire and Rescue Service has surveyed the area with a drone along with a thermal camera, unfortunately also without results. The State border Guard also participated with a K9 unit, unfortunately also without a result,” Okuņevs said.
The state police believe that currently, most likely, the woman and her daughter have gone in the direction of Rīga.
Svetlana is about 165 centimeters tall, and wore dark trousers and a jacket, while her daughter Karīna wore a pink hat, a red-brown vest with yellow flowers, dark pants, a jacket, and pink rubber boots.
Anyone with information on the location of the mother and daughter has been asked to call 67006734 or 110.
