FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Investigators are continuing their search for a missing 5-year-old girl after arresting one man in her kidnapping.
Fayetteville Police Department spokeswoman Theresa Chance said tpdau that authorities believe the disappearance of Shaniya Davis was not a random occurrence. Investigators have arrested 30-year-old Clarence Coe and charged him with first-degree kidnapping.
Chance said Coe was a person of interest early in the case and that a witness spotted him transporting the girl out of a trailer park. Investigators are assuming that Shaniya is in danger.
Investigators have said police dogs did not pick up the child's scent during a search of the neighborhood. She was reported missing from her a mobile home park around 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Clarence Coe was arrested without incident at his Fayetteville home around 11 p.m. Wednesday and charged with first-degree kidnapping.
Thompson said detectives have not yet indicated whether Coe knew the child. Coe was being held at the Cumberland County jail, where a worker said records didn't indicate whether Coe had an attorney or a scheduled court appearance.
Coe has several criminal charges on his state record, including an April conviction of misdemeanor breaking and entering. He was released from prison in mid-August, according to Department of Correction records.
He has previously been convicted of assault on a female, felony breaking and entering, larceny, robbery and other charges dating back to 2001.
Investigators found a blanket that may have belonged to Shaniya in a garbage can outside a neighbor's home. Thompson said investigators also found other items Shaniya may have been wearing.
Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Davis, and her father, who flew in from out of state, have been speaking with investigators.
Associated Press Writer Mike Baker contributed to this report from Raleigh.
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