Sharon’s mum raised the alarm after she went to check on her sleeping daughter in the middle of the night and realised she was gone – an extensive police search is now underway
Police are racing against the clock to find a missing five-year-old girl who they believe was snatched from her bed three days ago by a recently released prisoner. Police and volunteers continue to scour through shoulder-high grasses near the home where Sharon Granites lives with her mum, not far from Alice Springs at Old Timers Camp in the Australian outback. National Territory (NT) Police believe Sharon may have been abducted 46-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who had been released from jail six days prior. He was also staying at the girls home before she vanished and has not been seen since.
Police have sent clothing believed to belong to the recently-released prison inmate for forensic testing as part of their search for little Sharon who has not been seen since Saturday.
NT Police assistant commissioner Peter Malley said there was a “bit of a party” happening in the camp at the time of Sharon’s disappearance. She was at home in bed while her mother was doing washing nearby. It seems that was when her alleged abductor struck, with an eyewitness revealing to police they spotted something stomach-churning at the time Sharon vanished. As per police, Lewis was last seen “holding hands” with the little girl at about 11pm on Saturday, with police confirming they believe he then led her away from her home. The pair have not been seen since. Speaking to the press on Tuesday (April 28), Assistant Commissioner Malley said that despite the girl being missing for more than 48 hours, officials believe she is still alive. “At this stage our number one mission is to find her safe and well,” he said, before adding: “But as you know, as time goes on, the chances of … finding her alive and well [are] reduced.” “Sharon’s mum was over there to do some washing, and she knew people there. So she was quite welcome in that area,” he said.
Sharon was last seen wearing a dark blue short-sleeved T-shirt with a white ring stripe around the neck and the end of the sleeves and a pair of black boxer-style underwear.
Commissioner Malley said police were yet to determine a motive behind the alleged abduction, but he did admit that Lewis may have been intoxicated at the time. “There was alcohol being consumed at the camp at the time, and so he probably was under the influence of alcohol,” he said. An NT Police spokesman told News Corp’s NewsWire service that 60 or so people were taking part in the ground search on Tuesday, as well as using helicopters, drones, the dog unit, horses, motorcycle and ATVs as resources to help find the child in any terrain. NT Police sergeant Matt Hall told the ABC that the search for Sharon had been slow-going so far thanks to the challenging environment. “It is a vast search area that we are looking at and going through methodically,” he told ABC Radio Darwin. “The area’s heavily overgrown with buffel grass, so in some areas it’s shoulder-to-shoulder search pattern through that area. So, it’s slow-going, but we will continue to push through.” Police, emergency crews, and volunteers have so far searched about 46 square kilometres – that’s just more than 17 square miles – so far by helicopter, while officers and volunteers have scoured a further 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) on foot. Indigenous trackers have also been deployed to assist with the search, NT Police executive director of cultural reform Leanne Liddle told news.com.au. “We also have the assistance of the volunteers, we’ve also got the assistance of the land councils,” she said.
