CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The FBI has joined in the search for a hearing-impaired 10-year-old girl who disappeared from her North Carolina home, officials said.
Zahra Clare Baker was last seen sleeping in her bed early Saturday morning in Hickory, and was reported missing that afternoon by her father and stepmother, The Charlotte Observer reported Monday.
Libby Grigg, assistant to the Hickory police chief, said the father, Adam Baker, and his wife Elisa, told police they last saw Zahra about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when they heard her coughing in bed.
Elisa Baker was arrested and jailed on several unrelated charges Sunday, and has not been ruled out as a suspect in the girl's disappearance. She is a "person of interest" because of inconsistencies in information she gave to police, the newspaper said.
Police said an abduction by a stranger is "less likely" than originally believed.
"We haven't ruled anyone totally in or totally out," said Hickory Deputy Chief Clyde Deal.
The missing girl has a prosthetic left leg and wears hearing aids, which were left at the house; police issued an Amber Alert and have searched her home with dogs and reviewed surveillance videos from nearby businesses to "put together a better time line of events leading to her disappearance."
Investigators said they will hold a news conference about the girl's disappearance Monday.
The girl's mother lives outside the United States.
