Jeffrey Caplan
The mother of a missing 3-year-old girl made an emotional plea following the little girl’s disappearance Sunday night.
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“Please, bring her back … She’s my baby, she’s my everything,” the child’s mother, Kristy Woods, said. “Just to be able to touch her and hold her and not let her go again. I’d give anything.”
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The little girl, Mariah Woods, described as approximately 2 feet, 9 inches tall, weighing 30 pounds and having blond hair and blue eyes, was last seen Sunday night when her mother put her to bed in their home in Jacksonville, Fla., according to WCTI.
The FBI is now involved in the investigation alongside local law enforcement, and an Amber Alert was put out just a few hours after Mariah went missing.
#AMBERAlert Update!
Mariah was last seen on November 26, 2017 at 11:00 p.m. at 2404 Dawson Cabin Road in Jacksonville, #NorthCarolina.https://t.co/D2vblnGoy9— NCMEC (@MissingKids) November 28, 2017
“[Officials are] working everything that can be worked to find this little girl,” said Jacksonville Sheriff Hans Miller. “We don’t know what happened. It’s entirely premature to try to determine what happened.”
A search in a wooded area behind the girl’s home as well as the surrounding woods by four volunteer fire departments, the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department and K9 unites came up empty, WCTI reported. Even with the aid of a helicopter and drones, authorities didn’t find anything to lead them to Mariah.
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Officials interviewed both Kristy Woods and her live-in boyfriend and conducted a search of their home and vehicle, according to WCTI. The Onslow County Sheriff’s Department is also asking neighbors in the area to check their yards, sheds and other areas for any sign of the missing girl.
The search for Mariah has passed the 24-hour mark, which is significant in missing child investigations. The first 48 hours following a child’s disappearance are typically most critical for finding and returning that child home safely.
