NEIGHBOURS lit candles outside the home of Kiesha Abrahams last night while the missing six-year-old's mother, stepfather and biological father were being interviewed about the child's whereabouts by detectives at the Mount Druitt police station. The adults were at the station for several hours but left last night with no charges laid by police.
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Flowers and soft toys began to pile up on the front fence of the family's apartment block yesterday, where about 200 people later held a candlelight vigil while the search for the girl continued in nearby parkland.
Earlier, a small group of neighbours stood outside the apartment yelling obscenities.
Kiesha's mother, Kristi Abrahams, rejected suggestions the child's upbringing had been less than ideal. ''It is disgusting what they are saying,'' she told Seven News. ''They don't know me.''
Ms Abrahams said she loved and missed her happy little girl. ''She was funny, she was always happy. She loved animals; she loved macaroni and cheese; she loved her sister and her brother.''
Homicide and sex crimes detectives have joined the investigation that began after Ms Abrahams reported Kiesha missing on Sunday morning.
Kiesha had not been to school since her brother, Levi, was born 3½ weeks ago, according to police. They said it appeared the last time anyone other than direct family members had seen Kiesha was the weekend of July 7, which coincided with Levi's birth.
Asked by a reporter last night where Kiesha had been in recent weeks, Ms Abrahams said: ''With me.'' Kiesha's biological father, Chris Weippeart, is also the father of Ms Abrahams's first child, Aiden, who reportedly died of cot death at six weeks.
Mr Weippeart said the family was ''expecting the worst and hoping for the best''.
A family friend who visited them twice yesterday said they were still coming to terms with their daughter's disappearance. ''They're just shattered,'' she said. ''[Kiesha's sister] Brianna's only three, she doesn't know what's happened. I mean she knows Kiesha is not there but she doesn't understand why. I suppose it's a good thing. I carry a photo of Kiesha with me and every person I see I ask if they've seen her.
''We just want to find her.''
A sign on the family's front fence last night read, ''Light the path to home''. A note pinned to the fence, in a child's hand, said: ''To my best friend. I hope you come back home very soon. I miss you. Love Hayley and Jesse.''
Parents from the play group Kiesha attended said she was only at the play group a dozen times in the year they were there but she was well cared for.
''The kids were always dressed beautifully. She looked so loving, the mum,'' one woman said.
Naomi Naibkhil, the mother of two girls, said she was keeping her children inside.
