5-Year-Old Girl Believed Abducted in Australia

A five-year-old girl from an Indigenous community in Australia's Northern Territory was reported missing early Sunday and is now believed to have been abducted, police said Monday, as search efforts intensified for both the child and a 47-year-old man who may assist investigators.

Sharon Granites was last seen around 11:30 p.m. Saturday at her family home on Marshall Court in Old Timers Camp, an Aboriginal town camp south of Alice Springs. Family members had put her to bed shortly before midnight, but when her mother checked on her around 1:35 a.m. Sunday, the girl could not be found. Northern Territory police received the report shortly after and immediately launched searches of the surrounding area, including nearby bushland.

Acting Commander Mark Grieve told reporters Monday that investigators suspect abduction due to the circumstances of Sharon's disappearance. "We do believe Sharon has been abducted," he said. Police are seeking public help to locate Jefferson Lewis, who was in the Old Timers Camp area that evening and has not contacted authorities. Grieve noted that Lewis, recently released from prison, was staying nearby and vanished around the same time as Sharon. "He is...