Mariah Woods’ disappearance stumped police. However, they’re now asking for help identifying a woman seen with a blonde girl in Walmart — could it be Mariah?
While evidence was majorly lacking in the missing persons case of Mariah Woods, 3, early on, it seems police may have made a break-through discovery. Little Mariah vanished from her bed on Nov. 26, her mom discovering she was missing the next morning on Nov. 27. Since then, authorities have been desperately searching for the three-year-old North Carolinian. Late on Nov. 28, surveillance photos from inside a Walmart surfaced, and the little girl in the pics COULD be Mariah. The toddler in the photos, whose face can’t be seen head-on, is accompanied by a brunette woman, meaning if the child IS Mariah, she was in fact abducted.
It was the FBI who released the series of three surveillance photos from a Walmart in Morehead City, North Carolina. The establishment is just about an hour east of Mariah’s home in Jacksonville. The FBI recently brought in their child abduction team to help in the case, and they say they want to question the woman in the photos in connection to Mariah’s disappearance. “As a result from information provided by the community, law enforcement obtained an image of an adult and child that was taken on Monday morning, November 27th at approximately 9:30 a.m. in the Walmart in Morehead City,” a statement from the FBI said. “The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI are attempting to determine whether the child depicted in this image is the missing three-year-old Mariah Woods.”
As law enforcement stated, the pics were taken at 9:30 am on the morning of Nov. 27, which is just three and a half hours after Mariah’s mother and live-in boyfriend went to wake her up and found her missing from her bedroom. The last time Mariah’s mom, Kristy Woods, says she saw her daughter was at 11 pm the night before, when she tucked her into bed. However, Kristy’s boyfriend says he saw the girl about an hour later when she came out of her room. He told her to go back to bed at the time.
Police have also investigated Mariah’s biological father, Alex Woods, who said his daughter was not with him. He also revealed that, unlike Kristy, he does NOT believe Mariah was abducted. Police haven’t found much evidence either way. They did, however, search the woods surrounding Kristy’s home in a mobile park, as well as the home itself. They say were was no sign of forced entry, but the back door of the home was left unlocked overnight.
“Please, bring her back… She’s my baby, she’s my everything,” the mother-of-three told reporters. “Just to be able to touch her and hold her and not let her go again. I’d give anything.” Kristy also noted that her daughter usually wears orthopedic braces on both of her legs and has trouble walking without them.
Our thoughts are with the entire Woods family during this difficult time. HollywoodLifers, if you have any information on the whereabouts of Mariah, please contact the Onslow County Sheriff at 910-455-3113 or 911 locally.
