FBI Joins Search for Abducted Georgia Teen
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National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(ELLENWOOD, Ga.) — Investigators have fanned out across Georgia with police checkpoints and helicopters searching for a 14-year-old girl who was abducted from her home by two armed intruders.
Ayvani Hope Perez, 14, was in her pajamas when police say two men broke in the back door of her Ellenwood, Ga., home Tuesday at 2:15 a.m. looking for jewelry and money. When Perez’s mother said the family didn’t have any, the suspects shot the family dog and fled the home with Perez, according to police.
The girl’s aunt, Suky Guerrero, told ABC News affiliate WSB-TV that the family was attempting to put enough money together to pay a ransom. Police have denied the claim that a ransom has been demanded by the suspects.
“We do believe the young lady is in harm’s way. We are actively and diligently investigating this situation to make sure she is returned safely,” Clayton County Police Lt. Marc Richards said.
Police say they’re looking for a grey Dodge, which they believe the intruders were driving when they fled the scene. Police late Tuesday morning released sketches of the two suspects and the FBI has joined in on the search.
“Our absolute, number one priority is the safe return of a 14-year-old, innocent girl,” FBI agent in charge Mark Giuliano said.
The family had just moved to Ellenwood, a small community about 10 miles southeast of Atlanta, a month ago and police believe they had no connection to the abductors. The kidnapping has stunned neighbors, who have already set up Facebook pages hoping to bring the teen home alive.
“I hurt for the child, I hurt for the parents,” neighbor Veroniece Marable said. “That child must be frightened to be with strangers and taken from her home.”
Friends and classmates of Perez crowded her high school’s front steps Tuesday night, praying she’s unharmed and begging for her safe return.
“Just give her back. I mean, you got what you wanted obviously,” Perez’s friend Serena Campbell told ABC News. “It’s very hard to even grasp the fact that this has happened. I’m still in the stage of this isn’t real…”
Friends say the family just recently purchased the home and did not have a lot of money.
“I’m more worried and angry about the fact that they chose her family out of any other family because they just bought a house. They have no money and they didn’t really have anything to begin with,” Ayden Collazo said.
Perez is described as 4-feet-9, weighing 93 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing blue and grey Star Wars pajama bottoms and a blue and grey superhero shirt at the time of her abduction, according to an Amber Alert.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Clayton County Police Department at 678-610-4781.
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