JACKSONVILLE, NC -- A sheriff in coastal North Carolina is asking local residents who want to help in the search for a missing 3-year-old girl to check their own property.
Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller said Wednesday at a news briefing that property owners should look around their homes for any clues that might help find Mariah Woods.
Miller said people should search sheds, barns and wooded areas and call law enforcement if they see something out of the ordinary.
Thursday, a heavy search presence, including a dive team, gathered at a creek not far from the girl's home, according to WRAL.
A statewide Amber Alert was issued for the girl after she was reported missing from her home outside of Jacksonville on Monday. The FBI joined local law enforcement in the search for the girl on Tuesday.
The biological father of Mariah says he doesn't think his daughter was kidnapped. Alex Woods told WCTI-TV in New Bern in an interview Tuesday he didn't know Mariah Kay Woods was missing until an Amber Alert was issued Monday.
Kristy Woods, the girl's mother, told authorities she last saw Mariah about 11 p.m. Sunday when she checked on her at their home near Jacksonville. Woods said she called authorities around 6 a.m. Monday when she noticed Mariah was missing.
Alex Woods says he can't believe someone could walk into the house and grab a 3-year-old out of her bed without her crying out or screaming. He says two adults and two other children were in the house and someone should have heard something.
The FBI joined the search Tuesday.
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