FBI asking for help finding missing 3-year-old girl from North Carolina, subject of Amber Alert

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The FBI is now involved in the search for a missing 3-year-old girl in Onslow County, North Carolina.

In a news conference Tuesday, the Onslow County Sheriff said, "No piece of information is too small. We must bring this little girl home."

According to affiliate WRAL, local, state and federal agencies are searching on the ground and from the sky for Mariah Woods, 3.

Investigators also asked that anyone who has contact with the girl's family contact authorities.

An Amber Alert was issued Monday for Mariah Kay Woods, who was last seen in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

"I don't believe she would go out by herself, especially in the dark," said the girl’s grandmother, Anne Edwards. “She's a sweet child but she's shy with strangers. So she wouldn't just go with a stranger."

Edwards said the 3-year-old struggles to get around on her own and wears a brace for assistance.

"It's really tough because it's just like everybody says, 'I didn't believe this could happen to me,'" she said.

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Investigators have asked people in the area to check their yards and sheds.

Woods is described as white and 2 feet 9 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes. She weighs 30 pounds.

Authorities have not said who may have taken her and where they might be headed.

Anyone with information on Woods’s whereabouts is encouraged to call the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office immediately at (910) 455-3113 or 911.

Cox Media Group