JACKSONVILLE, NC — The father of missing 3-year-old Mariah Woods has spoken out for the first time since his daughter’s disappearance, casting doubts on the story being told by the girl’s mother.
In an interview with ABC affiliate WCTI (http://www.wcti12.com/news/local-news/onslow/father-of-missing-3-year-old-girl-speaks-out/663378551), the girl’s biological father, Alex Woods, said he doesn’t believe his daughter was abducted.
“Someone just walked right up in there, grabbed the 3-year-old out of the bed and she didn’t cry, she didn’t scream?” Alex Woods said. “Nobody heard anything? Four people in the house, two adults and two kids someone just comes up and snatches the baby and walks out?”
Woods, who acknowledged that he has not seen his child in more than a year, says he has been kept away from his daughter by the child’s mother, who reported the toddler missing early Monday morning.
“Please, bring her back … She’s my baby, she’s my everything,” Kristy Woods said during a press conference on Monday. “Just to be able to touch her and hold her and not let her go again. I’d give anything. I’ll do anything that I can, whatever you want, just bring her home please safe and sound.”
The child was reported missing from her family’s home after Kristy Woods said she woke at around 6am and discovered the little girl was gone. Woods says she last saw her daughter at around 11pm Sunday night when she went into the child’s room to check on her. She claims her boyfriend saw the child again around one hour later when the child awoke and he told her to go back to bed.
According to the family, there was no sign of forced entry into the home, but the back door to the family’s trailer was found to be unlocked.
Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller has confirmed that FBI agents have been brought in to help in the search for the girl, who walks with a limp due to an orthopedic leg problem.
“That includes the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team or CARD team. FBI CARD Team members are highly trained and experienced experts on missing children cases,” says Shelley Lynch, spokesperson for the FBI’s Charlotte office.
Alex Woods says the last time he saw his daughter was when he held temporary custody of the girl while Child Protective Services conducted an investigation into allegations surrounding the child’s mother.
Calls for statement from the North Carolina Department of Human Services resulted in a “no comment” when asked for details on their previous findings.
Mariah is described as a white female standing about 2′ 9″ tall and weighing around 30 pounds.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call 911 or their local law enforcement agency.
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