Who Is Mariah Kay Woods? Missing North Carolina Toddler’s Family Fears Abduction
Hundreds of people gathered in Onslow County, North Carolina Thursday to search for a toddler missing from her family home. Three year old Mariah Kay Woods was last seen in her home around 11 p.m. Sunday, her mother said.
Some 600 people joined in the search for the toddler, according to the FBI. The FBI announced “items of interest” were sent to a lab in Quantico, Virginia in order to be tested. No details about the specifics of the items were given.
“Our partners with the U.S. Marine Corps provided an Osprey to transport the items directly to Quantico, so testing could begin immediately,” said FBI supervisor Stanley Meador. “Those items will be a priority for processing so we can determine whether or not they contain any evidentiary value.”
Mariah’s mother noticed she was missing around 6 a.m. Monday and notified authorities. Her father said he did not believe she was kidnapped as it would have been difficult for someone to walk into a house with another two children and two adults without the child making noise.
“Someone just walked right up in there, grabbed the 3-year-old out of the bed and she didn’t cry, she didn’t scream?” Alex Woods told WCTI-TV. “Nobody heard anything? Four people in the house, two adults and two kids. Someone just comes up and snatches the baby and walks out?”
Mariah’s mother, however, believed the toddler was abducted, according to WCTI-TV.
“If anybody knows where she’s at or has any information, please call the sheriff’s department or notify anybody,” her mother asked the public. “She could be anywhere.”
A surveillance photo from a Walmart in North Carolina was sent to the FBI after some believed it may have shown the girl. The FBI said Wednesday, however, it did not depict the missing child and had nothing to do with her, according to USA Today. Volunteers with Thursday’s search party scoured an area near her home, including a creek a few miles from where she was last seen, WRAL-TV reported.
“We don’t know what happened,” said Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller. “It’s entirely premature to try to determine what happened.”
Officials gave no further details about what items were found during the search
Mariah Kay Woods is described as 2’9” and 30 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about the child is asked to call the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office at 910-455-3113. A $2,500 reward has been posted by Crime Stoppers in Onslow County for any information that leads to finding the child.
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