In brief
- The search for five-year-old Sharon Granites and her suspected abductor has entered its fourth day.
- Recently released prisoner Jefferson Lewis is believed to have lured Sharon away from her town camp residence.
An outback search for a five-year-old and her suspected abductor is ramping up as it enters its fourth day, with authorities believing the missing girl is still alive.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Northern Territory police commissioner Martin Dole thanked the many hundreds of people involved in the hunt for Sharon Granites and recently released prisoner Jefferson Lewis.
Police believe that there are people in the community who "absolutely know" where Lewis is. If they were withholding information for any reason, Dole said, they are urged to come forward.
Assistant commissioner Peter Malley said that while police were yet to locate Granites or Lewis, new items of interest had been discovered at the camp where the girl went missing on Sunday.
"We have seized a number of items from that crime scene, being a doona cover, the shirt that Jefferson Lewis was wearing — it was a distinct yellow one — and we seized a pair of child's underwear from that location," Malley said.
"Those items have now been transported to Darwin, and they are undergoing forensic analysis, and I expect to have that back tomorrow."
Malley said police believe that Lewis is still "local" and are casting a wide net. Data from an ankle monitor previously worn by Lewis has been scraped, and police are regularly visiting places he frequented most, he added.
NT Police have also provided information on the case to police in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
Asked why he felt so certain that Granites is still alive, Malley said: "We speak to survival experts, and we look at if she was wandering around on her own in the bush and how long she could survive for, and we're still within that timeframe.
"But once again, we're considering everything, and she may have come to harm, but we still think she is alive, and our number one mission is to find her safe and well."
The 47-year-old Lewis is believed to have lured Sharon away from her Old Timers town camp residence on Sunday while likely affected by alcohol after earlier being seen holding the little girl's hand, police said on Tuesday.
Lewis is not directly related to Sharon but had been staying at her family's home when she disappeared, police said.
He had been released from prison just six days earlier.
At first light on Wednesday, police planned to relaunch a search that would include mounted police horses, helicopter aerial searches and thermal-imaging drones.
Community 'holding its breath'
The isolated community, which has been urged to come forward with any information, has thrown their support behind Sharon's family, with over 130 people involved in Tuesday's search.
Local businesses donated food to help those searching.
Alice Springs mayor Asta Hill told the Australian Associated Press that a town council meeting on Tuesday night was opened with a prayer for Sharon and her safe return.
"There is intense worry reverberating through the whole community; it's as though the whole community is holding its breath," she said.
On Wednesday, the South Sudanese community sent a message to its members, calling on them to join the search.
"[We] would like to ... invite all members of you are free tomorrow from 9am to join the police in search for the five-years-old little girl that missing from Sunday night," the statement read.
"Thank you for your support at this hard time we pray for the safety of the little angel that is missing and hope that she will be reunited with her family and loved ones soon thank you."
Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said the suspected abduction was "every parent's worst nightmare".
"To her family — our thoughts are with you," she said in a post on Facebook on Monday.
"To the community— this is the moment to step up. Someone knows something.
"Let's help bring her home."
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