Search is ongoing for missing N.C. girl

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Fears are growing about the fate of a 10-year-old North Carolina girl missing for more than a week, as the search is ongoing, authorities said.

Zahra Baker of Hickory, N.C., a cancer survivor with a prosthetic leg and hearing aids, was reported missing Oct. 9.

Zahra's stepmother Elisa Baker has admitted to writing a phony ransom note and is being held on a charge of obstructing justice.

Hickory police announced they are investigating the case as a homicide but by Sunday had not released further information on the status of the search, The Charlotte Observer reported.

On Friday Zahra's father, Adam Baker, said he believed his daughter was still alive.

Relatives and neighbors of the Bakers have said they suspected Zahra was being abused, and some have talked to the Department of Social Services, the Observer reported.

Local churches have held prayer services as the search goes on.

"Folks are devastated by the possibilities," the Rev. Mack Jarviss of Hudson's First Baptist Church said. "Those are the things that break our hearts."