SUV found, hunt for missing Lumberton girl stretches into the night
The green SUV that was stolen earlier this week during the kidnapping of a 13-year-old Lumberton girl was found Thursday, but the search for Hania Noelia Aguilar continued into the night.
Posted — UpdatedInvestigators were going door to door along Quincey Drive, talking to residents to seek clues to the girl's whereabouts.
Lumberton Police Chief Michael McNeil and the FBI said the stolen vehicle was found Thursday shortly before 8 a.m. off Quincey Drive in Lumberton. The FBI's Evidence Response Team was set to process the vehicle for evidence, investigators said.
"Someone called 911 and said they saw the vehicle backed up in the woods," McNeil said during an impromptu press conference. "We immediately secured the scene. There is an incredible amount of investigative work going on to find Hania. That's our main goal right now."
"We're also hoping that we can possibly obtain forensic information regarding the driver of the SUV," FBI Agent Andy DeLarocha said.
Federal investigators asked that anyone who lives or operates a business in the area and may have a video surveillance camera system call the FBI's tip line at 910-272-5871.
The FBI also released surveillance video showing what appears to be a man walking in the area where the girl was taken.
Investigators said the man was walking south on Lambeth Street before turning north on NC Highway 41 towards the mobile home park where the girl lived with her family. Anyone who saw the person was asked to call the tip line.
"The foot traffic at that time of the day was actually very light, and this is actually the only individual we saw out walking at that time of day in this part of the neighborhood," DeLarocha said.
Investigators say finding the SUV is a major break, although the search for Aguilar continues.
"This is one piece that's going to lead up, hopefully, to the rest of the puzzle," DeLarocha said.
The FBI and North Carolina SBI have joined in the search, and a $15,000 reward is being offered.
At the sanctuary at St. Andrews Catholic Church in Red Springs, nobody can think or talk about anything but the safe return of Aguilar.
"Hania is a teenager, calm, she is humble. A happy teenager," Father Giovanni Romero said of the 13-year-old.
Aguilar is a member of the confirmation class at St. Andrews and her absence from Wednesday's weekly mass was tough on the other children.
"Most of the girls her age were really affected. When we came to mass, they have two hours of class and then we come to mass, so whenever they come into mass, everybody was just talking about it," Romero said. "It was really tough because some of the children, they just had to leave."
Romero said the parish and community are keeping Aguilar's family in prayer, which is now their source of strength.
"He's been with the family, spiritually. He's helped guild them, he's been visiting the family every day and shared moments with them, and been there for whatever is needed," Romero said.
Following the recovery of the stolen SUV, Romero said Aguilar's family still has hope.
Several people, including grieving family members of the teen, gathered Wednesday night to hold a vigil and request that she be returned home safely.
Police have said the man forced the girl into her family's green 2002 Ford Expedition, which is registered to Velasquez Hernandez, Hania's aunt, of Summerville, S.C.
The SUV, which has South Carolina license plate NWS-984, was seen leaving the mobile home community Monday morning.
Authorities on Wednesday said that surveillance cameras captured photos and video of the stolen SUV, which has peeling paint on the hood and a Clemson sticker on the rear window.
Law enforcement authorities have been actively encouraging anyone with information about the case to report any information they might have.
The tip line number: 910-272-5871
La camioneta verde que fue robada durante el secuestro de una joven de 13 años en Lumberton ha sido encontrada, según las autoridades.
Hania Noelia Aguilar, una estudiante en Lumberton High School, fue raptada el lunes por un hombre vestido de negro con una bandana amarilla mientras que la joven estaba afuera de su casa en el Rosewood Mobile Home Park en 3525 E. Elizabethtown Road.
Las autoridades de Lumberton dicen que consiguieron la camioneta, pero siguen buscando a la joven.
El FBI y SBI de Carolina del Norte están asistiendo en la búsqueda y hay una recompensa de $15,000.
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