Marie Tukerangi, the mother of Auckland teenager LA Tukerangi, talks about the experience of the alleged kidnapping and sends a message to her daughter.

The mother of a 15-year-old girl allegedly being held by a career criminal says she is beside herself with worry.

Police said they have grave concerns for Auckland teenager LA Tukerangi, who told family she was being held against her will by wanted man Dean Wayne Whakatau .

Whakatau, 36, was recently released from jail, police said.

Supplied. Police have fears for LA Tukerangi - believed to be being held against her will.

He was understood to have been with Tukerangi in Rotorua as recently as Sunday morning.

Whakatau has a warrant out for his arrest for breach of release conditions and the public have been warned not to approach him.

LA's mother, Marie Tukerangi, said she was beside herself with worry.

"Now I know how it feels for other parents who go through this. I never thought it would happen to my own family."

She first realised something was wrong when she received a Facebook message from her daughter on the morning of August 1.

It read: "Please, Mum, help me. I've been kidnapped."

Tukerangi said she only has "dribs and drabs" of the alleged kidnapping but believes it happened outside LA's 16-year-old boyfriend's home in Clendon.

"They were in a car, they were dropping LA's boyfriend off."

The mother said she had been told that after a confrontation outside the house LA had eventually agreed to go with Whakatau.

Tukerangi has never met her daughter's alleged kidnapper but has a simple message for him.

"We just want our baby home and safe."

Tukerangi made contact with a family member on Saturday asking for help and indicating she was being held by a man, said police.

Police described Whakatau as 170cm tall, of a solid build and with two front teeth missing.

Police asked for any sightings of LA Tukerangi or Dean Whakatau to be reported immediately by the 111 system.

Whakatau has a long history of previous offences and has been referred to by a judge as a "career criminal".

He was one of two prisoners who smashed their way out of the Rotorua police cells and went on the run in October 2005.

Whakatau and the other prisoner broke the thick tongue and groove ceiling battens and pushed away chicken wire cladding to lever up the iron roof, before dropping down into the police station's courtyard and out into the street.

At the time he was being held in custody facing charges of rape and kidnapping. He was found in a house in Western Heights two weeks later.

The year before, Whakatau escaped from a Waikeria Prison work party and went on the run

Over the last 10 years Whakatau has 46 previous convictions for dishonesty offences, including multiple burglaries.

In April this year he was jailed for 18 months on burglary charges.

Anyone with any information about the pair, or where they might be, are asked to contact Rotorua Police on 07 348 0099. Information can also be provided anonymously to the organisation Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.