Toddler found dead in ditch after nanny's ransom demand

On Tuesday afternoon the nanny, Giap Thi Huyen Trang, picked the child up from her kindergarten in Hanoi's Gia Lam District, which borders Hung Yen.

Later that day she contacted the child's parents and demanded payment of VND1.5 billion if they wanted her back.

Security camera footage shows her picking up the girl at school and leaving at 3:50 p.m. on a scooter.

On Wednesday morning the child's body was found in a ditch in Me So Commune in Van Giang District, 13 km from her home.

Nguyen Van Thanh, 69, of Me So Commune told the police he was heading to his rice field when a woman on a scooter with a child approached him and asked for directions to the nearest drugstore.

He told her she had to turn around but she did not follow his instructions and drove away.

As he continued on his way, he heard the child crying.

On Tuesday morning, on hearing that a child's body had been found in a ditch near his field, he rushed to the scene and recognized her as the girl he had seen the previous day.

The police are still searching for Trang, 27, a native of the northern Bac Giang Province.

The girl's family had hired her a month ago, and her duties included picking up the girl at the kindergarten.