FBI K-9 dogs hit on items around the southern Arizona home of a
missing 6-year-old girl on Monday, prompting authorities to take over
the house, a police chief said.
Tucson Police Chief
Roberto Villasenor said Monday night that the "specialized K-9s (were)
flown in" to help in the case of young Isabel Mercedes Celis, who was
reported missing on Saturday morning. The dogs "did alert on some things
that caused us to go back" to the house, said the chief.
While they've described
her disappearance as suspicious, local authorities have not identified
any suspects in Isabel's case nor have they indicated what they believe
may have happened to her.
They have launched an
extensive search in a 3-mile radius of the girl's home, where she lives
with her parents and two older brothers, as well as contacted all
registered sex offenders living nearby.
Villasenor said on Monday
morning that authorities had combed through the area "at least three
times now," with neighbor Cynthia Mort vouching that they'd "searched
inside and outside every home in the neighborhood."
The girl's small stature
-- at 3 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 44 pounds -- makes it critical
to leave no stone unturned, given that she may be in any number of
places.
"We ... are checking
every corner, every nook and cranny that could possibly hold a child,"
Tucson police Sgt. Maria Hawke said.
Isabel was last seen by
family members when she went to bed at 11 p.m. Friday. When her father
went to wake her at 8 a.m. Saturday -- a half-hour after her mother had
gone to work -- he said the girl was nowhere to be found, according to
police.
A screen was found
removed from one of the house's windows. Hawke said the missing screen
"could be suspicious" and indicate someone broke through the window to
get into the residence or get out, though she stressed "there's nothing
conclusive at this point."
Villasenor did not
specify what the FBI K-9 dogs hit on, or the possible significance. He
did say that, because of their reaction, authorities sought and obtained
a search warrant to occupy the house.
He said they asked for a
warrant "just to make sure everything is done correctly," not because
the family at the center of the case isn't cooperating. Hawke said the
family left voluntarily.
"We have asked the
family if they would be willing to leave so that we can avoid any
potential evidence contamination, ... (and) they have agreed to do so,"
the police sergeant said.
One street away from one
of Tucson's busiest thoroughfares, the Celis' home is in a neighborhood
of largely middle-class, single-family residences. A fence and wall
surround the yard of the house.
Mort described Isabel's family as "wonderful, caring people."
"They are always
helping, you always see them together," said Mort, who has lived next
door to Isabel's grandparents for the past 25 years. "They are very,
very loving. I couldn't imagine anyone in this family doing anything to
anyone."
She added that Isabel's disappearance has rocked the community, leaving "everybody ... totally distraught."
"We're just afraid to let our children out," Mort said. "We're terrorized."
Source: CNN News
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