Open Window Shows Missing Tucson Girl Was Abducted, Parents Say
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Joseph Devenney/Getty Images(TUCSON, Ariz.) — Isabel Mercedes Celis’ window had been pushed open and the blind was pushed to the side when the 6-year-old disappeared from her Tucson, Ariz., home this weekend, her parents said, and police said they have found a “suspicious … entry point.”
Celis’ parents said they last saw their daughter Friday night around 11 p.m. in her bedroom. When Celis’ father went to wake her up on Saturday morning, she was gone, but the window was open, police said. There was no broken glass.
“She was checked on at about 8 o’clock so they can start their day. And she was not in her room at that point,” Tucson Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Hawke said.
Initially, police treated the disappearance as a missing persons case, but they have reclassified the case as a suspicious lost child or possible abduction and are exploring all possibilities.
Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said in a press conference on Sunday that there were still questions about whether anyone had forced their way into the house.
“We have a location where we think that could be a possible location of entry, but there’s also questions that we’re looking into on that,” he said. “The family has been cooperating with us…but we’re not ruling out anything of this investigation.”
Hawke said Sunday evening that police had found “suspicious circumstances around a possible entry point,” and were investigating further.
Police have served some search warrants in the case, the police chief said, but he would not go into details.
Scores of police, FBI agents and federal marshals are engaged in a massive manhunt, which includes aerial grid searches and checkpoints on the ground. FBI dogs are also being flown out from Virginia to help with the search.
Villasenor said anywhere from 150 to 250 people are working on the case.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio