Community not losing hope in search for Hania Aguilar
It's been more than two weeks since a 13-year-old girl was kidnapped from her Lumberton home, but as Thanksgiving approaches, the community is not losing hope.
Hania Aguilar was abducted on Nov. 5 by a man dressed in black and wearing a yellow bandana while she was standing outside her family's home in the Rosewood Mobile Home Park, at 3525 E. Elizabethtown Road.
Officials with the FBI have upped the reward for information to $30,000, and the governor is offering an additional $5,000, but there has been no sign of the teen.
Near Hania's home, parents are now keeping a closer eye on their children.
"I'm on top of them at the bus stop every morning and make sure they get on the bus before I walk away," said Teresa Lauderback.
Hania had just started her aunt’s green SUV when a man jumped in to abduct her. The vehicle was located a few days later in the woods off Quincey Drive, which is about 10 miles from where the teenager was kidnapped.
At Jeff's Corner Cafe, a popular lunch spot, the crowds continue to come and go, but something is different.
"Everybody is very concerned, and they're on edge," said Mayor Bruce Davis. "Everybody talks about it."
Davis says people often ask him about Hania's case.
"They ask all the time, and I have to tell them the FBI does not talk to the mayor," he said. "In fact, the FBI doesn't talk to anybody."
But the FBI has made multiple pleas to talk to people who may know something about Hania's disappearance through news conferences at the Lumberton Police Department.
But as time goes on, the briefings have become fewer, and investigators have said they are no longer doing media interviews, except for significant updates.
Investigators are still looking for a man who was captured on a security cameras around the time the teenager was kidnapped.
Lumberton police and the FBI have said they have no physical evidence to suggest that Hania is no longer alive. They also do not know if she and her kidnapper have crossed state lines, but they're investigating all possibilities.
Anyone with information is asked to call the tip line at 910-272-5871.
