Rowville, Melbourne abduction: Mother opens up about terrifying moment she and her baby were abducted

Mother and six-month-old abducted by knifemanHe remains on the run after incident on May 10READ MORE: Boy brings knife to school and threatens to kill classmates

A mother has tearfully recalled the terrifying moment she was held at knifepoint by  a man who abducted her and her six-month-old daughter.

The woman, known as Kieren, had just parked at the Stud Park Shopping Centre supermarket in Rowville, in Melbourne's south-east, at about 6pm last Friday when she was suddenly confronted by a man armed with a knife.

She was forced to get behind the wheel of her car and then spent the next two hours driving around Melbourne while her abductor ordered she buy Apple MacBook laptops.

While Kieren and her baby were physically unharmed in the ordeal, the knifeman, who is described as being of Asian appearance and between 20 and 35-years-old, remains on the run and the mother is now too scared to even leave her home.

'I was just getting my daughter out of her car seat and he just came up out of nowhere behind me with a knife,' Kieran told reporters during a police press conference on Friday.

'He just said ''get in your car and drive''.

The woman, known as Kieren, had just parked at the Stud Park Shopping Centre supermarket in Rowville, in Melbourne's south-east, at about 6pm last Friday when she was suddenly confronted by a man armed with a knife

'I just remember begging ''I've got a daughter, you can have my car, you can have my wallet, you can have my phone, take everything, just leave me with my daughter''.

'He kept demanding, ''I don't want your car, I don't want your wallet, I don't want your phone, just get in the car and drive''.'

Kieren eventually agreed and got into the driver's seat while the knifeman sat in the back with her daughter.

He ordered the mother drive to electrical stores in Cranbourne and Frankston and buy four Apple laptops while he remained in the car.

Victoria Police have released photos (pictured) of a man they wish to speak to after a mother and her baby were abducted from a Melbourne shopping centre

The mother was in floods of tears and said the offender kept telling her to stop crying and to just breathe.

'All I can remember hearing was my daughter crying. He was trying to get her to calm down and I was trying to get her to calm down,' she said. 

'We were both crying and he said ''stop crying'' and I ended up feeling really sick, so we ended up pulling over so I could throw up.' 

Kieren said she and the knifeman then swapped seats and she was able to calm her baby down with the infant then falling asleep.

When they arrived at the first store, Kieren was ordered to go inside and buy the computers, with the attacker promising not to hurt her child while she was gone.

Her husband managed to catch up with her at the store by tracking her iPhone because she hadn't been answering any calls.

'I just remember yelling at my husband that he has a knife and I just didn't want him to get hurt,' Kieren said.

'My husband tried to save my daughter but couldn't because the door was locked and she was in a car seat.'

The offender was last seen carrying a shopping bag containing two Apple MacBook Pro computers in their boxes and two more boxes under his arm

But the nightmare didn't end there, with the knifeman driving off with Kieren and her baby still inside.

He threw her phone out of the window which alerted her husband, telling him she'd been in a crash.

The knifeman then pulled over at the Robert Booth Reserve and told Kieren she was free to go, while apologising for ruining her night.

He fled into the night with the boxes of laptops and remains on the run.

Friday, one week later, was the first time Kieren was able to leave her house.

'I told myself I could be a hermit for one or two weeks but obviously the world doesn't stop,' she said.

'I hope he feels bad because I don't think he realises the impact it's had on my life.

'It's turned my life upside down.'

Victoria Police released photos of a man they wish to speak to over the incident.

He was wearing a grey coloured hoodie, a green fluoro vest over the top of the hoodie and black/grey pants with black running shoes.

Anyone who has information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.