Fayetteville, N.C. — Police on Monday night searched for a 17-month-old girl they were told was in a stolen car, but they later established that the child had been with a relative in Dunn all day, they said.

No one had been charged in the incident late Monday, but detectives said they were continuing the investigation.

Fayetteville police contacted Dunn police after establishing that the initial report of a stolen car and an abduction were false. Dunn officers confirmed the child was safe at about 11:15 p.m., Fayetteville police reported.

Police said it appeared that a friend of Alexis Moore's mother reported a light green, four door 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier taken from the CVS store at Grove and Ramsey streets at approximately 7:30 p.m. with the girl inside.

The girl's mother and another relative were supposedly searching for the car, police said, but detectives became suspicious when they could not reach either the mother or the other person.