The Onslow County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday morning that surveillance photos circulated in the search for Mariah Kay Woods are not the missing girl.
"We will use every possible means to bring her home," WRAL reported the sheriff said. "Every second counts when a child is missing. No piece of information is too small or insignificant."
The FBI released the photos overnight. Authorities asked the public for help identifying the woman and child. The photos were captured by a Walmart surveillance camera in Morehead City around 9:30 a.m. Monday. The three photos appear to show an adult woman with a young child walking around the store.
The FBI has deployed special agents to aid in the search, a spokesperson for the FBI confirmed to WNCN. Agents with the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team are helping. FBI CARD Team members are highly trained and experienced experts on missing children cases, the FBI said.
The Onslow County Sheriff is looking for Woods, who's about 2 feet-9 inches tall and 30 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes.
Kristy Woods, Mariah’s mother, is pleading for her daughter to be returned safely saying, “‘I’ll do anything that I can, whatever you want, just bring her home please safe and sound. She’s my baby, she’s my everything.”
Woods was last seen at 2405-7 Dawson Cabin Road in Jacksonville.
According to WNCT, Kirsty Woods, the girl’s mother, woke up Monday morning and noticed her daughter was missing from her bedroom.
Family members said there was no sign of forced entry but did mention the back door was unlocked.
Once they realized Mariah was missing both Woods and her boyfriend called for help.
Police spent all day searching for Mariah using helicopters, drones, and K9s.
Family members told WNCT, the girl has an orthopedic leg problem when she walks.
The Sheriff’s Office checked with Mariah’s biological father but said he does not have the girl.
The girl’s two older brothers made it to school safely.
Anyone with information should call the Onslow County Sheriff immediately at (910) 455-3113, or call 911 or *HP.