An Amber Alert continues Friday as multiple state and local law enforcement agencies joined the search for a missing 7-year-old girl last seen late Wednesday afternoon in Wise County.
Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin said the girl's stepmother reported 7-year-old Athena Strand missing at 5:40 p.m. after the girl disappeared from her room. The stepmother said she searched for about an hour before contacting the sheriff's office for help.
"We know that there was a little bit of an argument between her and her step-mom last night but it isn't anything unusual," said Akin. "There was that argument, then step-mom went to fix dinner, came back to get Athena, and Athena wasn't in her room."
Strand was last seen at about 4:45 p.m. in the vicinity of the 200 block of County Road 3573 in Paradise, Akin said.
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"We're looking at all the possibilities but right now we think the child walked away and maybe got lost," Akin told NBC 5.
Hundreds of law enforcement and volunteers spent Thursday canvassing homes, hillsides and rugged terrain for any sign of the first grader, who relatives say was afraid of the dark.
"We definitely don't believe Athena ran off," said Keeland Kulbeth, Athena's aunt and sister to Athena's mom.
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Strand was last seen wearing a gray long-sleeve shirt with white flowers, blue jeans with white flowers on the pockets, and brown boots. She has pierced ears but no earrings and two red birthmarks on her lower back.
"She's a very loving, friendly kid, loves people, loves animals, loves flowers, she’s a very girly girl," said Kulbeth.
Search efforts continued overnight and expanded to include multiple other agencies Thursday, including the local Texas Ranger, Fort Worth PD, Bridgeport PD, local fire departments, Wise County EMS, Search Rescue One (K-9 assisted), and several other agencies, the sheriff's office said.
The search continued overnight Thursday and resumed Friday.
"We're not going to give up. We're going to keep working," said Akin.
Akin said helicopters with thermal imaging were used Wednesday night but showed no sign or presence of a child. He said digital resources are being examined by investigators.
"I'm scared and I'm hoping that we find her 'cause I wouldn't want anyone to be in this right now," said Kulbeth.
Anyone with information that can help locate the girl is asked to call the Wise County Sheriff's Office at 940-627-5971.
TEXAS STATEWIDE ALERT PROGRAMS
Eight kinds of alerts can be issued for missing or endangered people in Texas. Below are links to articles with more information about each type of alert.
- Active Shooter Alert
- AMBER Alert & Athena Alert
- Blue Alert
- Silver Alert
- CLEAR Alert
- Camo Alert (no longer operational)
- Endangered Missing Person Alert
- Power Outage Alert
