Charges filed in kidnapping of N.C. girl

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A 30-year-old North Carolina man is facing first-degree kidnapping charges in the disappearance of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, authorities said.

Police in Fayetteville, N.C., said in a release that Clarence Coe, 30, was arrested and charged Wednesday, the day after the girl vanished, The Fayetteville Observer reported Thursday.

WRAL-TV, Raleigh, N.C., said Coe was arrested after a unidentified witness told police he saw Davis in a car with a man, whom police suspect actually was Coe, near her family's home at the Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park on Tuesday.

Davis' mother, Antoinette, told authorities her daughter went missing from the home early Tuesday morning.

Police spokesman Theresa Chance said the kidnapping was likely not random as Coe knew the young girl's family. State Department of Corrections records show Coe was previously convicted of charges ranging from assault on a female to breaking and entering.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert, but the girl's whereabouts are still unknown.

A blanket belonging to the young girl was found in a neighbor's trash can Wednesday, police said.

The Observer said Coe is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at Cumberland County Detention Center.