TUCSON, Ariz. -- The overnight disappearance of a 6-year-old Arizona girl triggered a massive search Saturday by scores of police, FBI agents and a large contingent of deputy U.S. Marshals as officials investigated the possibility that she was kidnapped or just wandered off.
First-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis's parents last saw her in bed at 11 p.m. Friday, and they discovered her missing at about 8 a.m. Saturday, Tucson police spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Hawke said.
Police continued to search an area of Tucson around East Broadway Boulevard and Craycroft Road into the evening using street patrols, canines, detectives and a helicopter.
Friends of the family, meanwhile, fanned out to distribute fliers with a photo of Isabel, KVOA-TV in Tucson reported.
"We're really surprised or shocked that anything like this could happen to our family," the girl's uncle, Justin Mastromarino, told the television station.
Hawke said investigators were looking into all potential scenarios, including the possibility that Isabel got up and wandered out of the home she shares with her parents and two brothers or that she was kidnapped.
Investigators also were examining every door and window of the house for signs of a break-in, Hawke said.
Both parents live in the home, so police had no indication a child custody dispute was involved but weren't completely ruling it out.
"Because of the possibility existing that this child could have been abducted, we're treating it as if it's that significant," Hawke said Saturday afternoon. "We don't want to be caught behind the ball by not exploring that possibility."
The working-class neighborhood of single-family homes is sandwiched between a large shopping mall to the east and businesses and a Catholic school to the west.
Hawke says at least 75 law enforcement officers were involved, possibly as many as 100, as more resources continue to arrive to help in the search and investigate the disappearance.
Isabel is described as just under 4-feet-tall and weighing 44 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Anyone with any information about Isabel's disappearance or whereabouts is urged to call 520-88-CRIME.
LOOK: See photos of Isabel Mercedes Celis:
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TUCSON, Ariz. -- The overnight disappearance of a 6-year-old Arizona girl triggered a massive search Saturday by scores of police, FBI agents and a large contingent of deputy U.S. Marshals as official...
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The overnight disappearance of a 6-year-old Arizona girl triggered a massive search Saturday by scores of police, FBI agents and a large contingent of deputy U.S. Marshals as official...
Police searching for a missing girl in Tucson, Ariz., hope that surveillance cameras on neighboring homes and businesses could yield clues. ABC News reported that...
Police in Arizona are searching for Isabel Mercedes Celis, who went missing from her parents' Tuscon home sometime in the early morning of April 21....
Dear Lord, please bring home Isabelle to her parents and if she is alive Lord, please hold her tight and take away her fear and help her be strong. Thank you Jesus for hearing our prayers.
didi768: Dear Lord, please bring home Isabelle to her parents and
Who exactly needed to know about a missing screen, and how does that knowledge help anyone? Look how many people on this thread seemed swayed to thinking "ok, must be kidnapping".
How brazen to go into someones house, not knowing what could be waiting for you inside. But then does a sick mind take a chance, that there is no one there for him to abduct? This kind of sicko is usually not stupid though, which makes it reasonable to assume they knew exactly who, and what was in this house.
Where I live, you get discounted gas if you shop at a certain supermarket, and swipe a plastic card. If you don't have the card, you can just give the clerk your phone number. You don't think twice and just spew it out for everyone behind you to hear. Here is the problem: without even being super clever, I can think of several deceptions that may incline you to give more info, like if I call you about the two twenties you dropped in line. Oh, and the clerk called you Ms. xxxx, because he was trained to add the personal touch (reciting your last name from your credit card). So now, at the very least, I am a telemarketer who knows your name and number. Depending on the gift I offer for a two minute survey, some of you are going to give me all the info I need to find your home. Better think.
jolleyrwe: Who exactly needed to know about a missing screen, and
There we go again on the racial thing...how do you know she is white? She could be hispanic...and why does it matter what race she is, she is missing.I see plenty of black children who are missing. If the parent goes to the extreme of getting the media involved, I don't think it matters to anyone the race, only that the child is missing. If you don't report a child missing, or go to great lengths to find them, they will surely remain lost.
cgenie1: There we go again on the racial thing...how do you
@Roommate: do you seriously think these families didn't lock their doors? Intruders get in by so many different ways. Putting THIS case aside for a moment: remember the Night Stalker (Richard Ramirez)? HE got into homes no one could imagine how..through TINY cracked-open windows (it was a hot summer)/garage doors and then jimmied the connecting door to the house and he was skinny; he murdered EVERYONE in their sleep/killed the men first/raped even elderly women AND tiny little girls just the same age as this one. You are NOT safe in your homes unless you take extreme measures. Sometimes stalkers case a house or family for weeks before going in to grab a child. They threaten them with death--or death of their parents/siblings to make them quiet. No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them and don't want to scare their kids so they do NOT take extreme measures. Teach kids to scream bloody murder if they see an intruder no matter the threat.
egs1217: @Roommate: do you seriously think these families didn't lock their
My prayers are with the family and my hope for Isabel be returned. I pray for her to hold on, to keep hope alive and to continue fighting inside to get back home. As a kidnap survivor hope and stubbornness was everything I clinged to. I was kidnapped at the age of 7 and tortured for a year. And somehow I held on. And I wish her parents every strength and all the courage to keep up their search, keep Isabel's story front and center in the spotlight and give law enforcement all the support they need to bring her back. We have to put an end to these atrocities. We lose thousands of our children a week, either missing or kidnapped. May she be home soon! God be with her and bless her.
hp_blogger_George Molho: My prayers are with the family and my hope for
I am so sorry, George...and hope you've somewhat recovered. PTSD is a terrible thing and can last for years/or a lifetime. My thoughts are with Isabel as well. I'm carrying her smile in my thoughts and wishing every good thing and strength for her - hoping against hope that her outcome will be good. Until trafficking in children is penalized as a capital crime (which it is), we won't see much change. No one hears children, unfortunately.
egs1217: I am so sorry, George...and hope you've somewhat recovered. PTSD
Thank you for your kind wishes and warm regards. I have written a book to bring this out into the open and have been working 24/7 to try and change things. And where I am always shocked is a) people are not aware of the number of children that are kidnapped yearly estimated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to be around 250,000 approximately 52 to 54,000 abducted by a parent. Horrible. And B) why its so difficult making this our nations number one priority. Whether the economy is good or bad, unemployment high or low or we are at war too me, and people say I am obviously biased, but to me our number one job is to safeguard our innocent, our children. Almost every animal on the planet protects their young until they are old and strong enough to fight and fend for themselves. And I see it daily that we have left our children to the wolves.Thank you for listening. My prayers are with Isabel and her family. May she be returned home safely and soon. God Be with her.
hp_blogger_George Molho: Thank you for your kind wishes and warm regards. I
I do not believe this was family related , look at the pictures on her mom's facebook, vacations , school functions , Easter. This is a loving family and this child is a glowing , smiling , seemingly charming beauty. I believe there was a creepy child watcher who was peeping and snatched her .
Someone has to know something . I am praying for the family..
Justina_Foster: I do not believe this was family related , look
She Hispanic... given the area where she lives, I'm guessing her parents/family are immigrants from Mexico. She is not 'white' in the sense you are trying to say she is. And have you ever been to the 'working' class neighborhoods near the Mexico border? They aren't much different from the ghettos of Chicago. Did you even read the article or did you just look at the picture and assume she is some privileged white kid?
DKC123: She Hispanic... given the area where she lives, I'm guessing
Oh you need to get over it!! Why does race have to come in to everything!!! I am so sick of this!! The point is another child went missing!!! Knock of the race card!!!
Kathie_Dowhower: Oh you need to get over it!! Why does race
I was using it in a positive way. And it IS a fact that the police, FBI and other law enforcement agencies treat darker races different than Caucasians. I used to see it in the o.r. when they'd brought in a suspect who had mysteriously 'fallen down the stairs, or fell out of the cruiser while doing 60', etc.
It's a sad fact that little, pretty white girls get more attention than black or latinos. Be glad you're white, then.
viciousvirago: I was using it in a positive way. And it
So tired of hearing all of these stories about missing and/or murdered children! I hope this beautiful little girl is found and returned safe and sound to her home soon. This must be so hard on the family, so my prayers go out to them.
whycantwejustallgetalong: So tired of hearing all of these stories about missing
it already exisits, even implants to track children, but it's ridiculusly expensive and only the well off can afford it. Make it affordable and more people will use it in a heart beat.
Jessica_Sumner: it already exisits, even implants to track children, but it's
I feel GPS chip should be put on our children at birth. When they turn 18 they can have it removed. After they Vote !! But ohh no. We Americans are so concerned about of freedom ( we dont have } and our rights ( that we only use when it is in our favor } that we have forgoten about our Children. Or mabey we sould just change the laws. Touch our children be executed.
azsunteck: I feel GPS chip should be put on our children
This is so sad, do hope they find the little girl, doesn't look good. Hard to imagine someone breaking in while the parents are sleeping, though I know I can sleep very soundly. I have a dog, hope the dog would bark if someone tried to get in.
HiddenNews: This is so sad, do hope they find the little
Another child missing from their bed? This has become a pandemic! It makes no sense. Is this a handy excuse or is there really a problem with people climbing in windows to abduct children? Either way, this is just awful! May God cover our children.
pljames74: Another child missing from their bed? This has become a
The problem is the male gender that don't have enough umph to get and keep a real woman. Instead these pervs go bother a child, the weak ones that can't fend for themselves. Sick bast@@@@@
Writingmomma: The problem is the male gender that don't have enough
Prayers for the family & the little girl. God be with her, poor baby.
Check close to home & the folks helping ...pedifiles like to help & be a part of the group helping in the search
SmurphIt: Prayers for the family & the little girl. God be
Totally untrue. Most child abductions occur during custody disputes. Check FBI data on national crime trends. Human trafficking operations are also not exclusive to Mexican nationals or illegals. In fact illegal immigrants from all parts of the world are far more at risk of being sold into human slavery than organizing or coordinating the kidnapping or sale. There is information out there on this tat is accurate. There isn't any need to promote myths about illegal immigration and crime.
cichlid_mom: Totally untrue. Most child abductions occur during custody disputes. Check
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04/21/12 10:28 PM ET