UPDATE: ALEA canceled the missing alert for Juana Gomez. Multiple media outlets report she has been found safe.
EARLIER: The search continues for an 11-year-old girl missing from Phenix City continues, with the FBI and the Russell County Sheriff’s Office joining the investigation.
Juana Elivia Tadeo Gomez was last known to be at her home 10 p.m. Tuesday at her Martin Luther King Parkway in Phenix City. She was reported missing Wednesday by a family member.
Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor, Phenix City Police Chief Ray Smith and the FBI held a press conference Friday, asking for anyone with information to come forward.
Authorities said they don’t yet know the circumstances of her disappearance and are not at a point in the probe where they can say whether she left willingly or was abducted.
A family member of the girl was arrested Thursday night on a charge of hindering prosecution. He remains in the Russell County Jail.
“We did not feel like he was being truthful at the time,’’ Taylor said. “That does not mean we think he has something to do with the disappearance.”
Authorities on Friday searched the mobile home park where Juana lives.
“Obviously, this case has been very important to us from the day it was reported,’’ Smith said. “We’ve been working non-stop since that day.”
Juana is 4-feet, 9-inches tall and weighs 110 pounds. She has brown eyes and black hair.
Anyone with information on the girl’s whereabouts is asked to call 911, the Phenix City Police Department at 334-298-0611, or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
