Police believe missing 5yo girl Sharon Granites still alive, as search continues into third day in Alice Springs

Northern Territory police say they believe missing five-year-old Sharon Granites is still alive and have labelled the search for her the force’s “number one priority”.

The Alice Springs girl has been missing for more than 48 hours, after vanishing from her bed in a home in the Old Timers town camp in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police on Monday said they believed she had been abducted by a recently released prisoner, 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who was staying at the residence at the time.

Providing an update to the media today, NT Police Assistant Commissioner for Crime and Intelligence, Peter Malley, said police had “deployed a lot of resources” to Alice Springs to find both Sharon and Mr Lewis.

“Right now, this remains the number one priority of the Northern Territory Police, to get Sharon back to her family,”

Acting Commissioner Malley said.

“As you know, as time goes on, the chances of finding her alive and well, reduce, so hence the amount of resources we have present here in Alice Springs.”

NT Police have declared the girl’s suspected abduction as a major crime, with a fugitive task force called in to Alice Springs today to assist with the search.

A police officer in uniform and a woman in civilian clothes outside a police station

Peter Malley and Leanne Liddle say finding Sharon Granites is the police force’s “number one priority”. (ABC News)

The acting commissioner said the “TRG [the Territory Response Group], motorbikes, horses, helicopters, drones” had all been deployed in what has been “one of the biggest investigations [the NT’s] had going for a while”.

The NT police force’s executive director of cultural reform, Leanne Liddle, said Aboriginal trackers had also been called on to help in the investigation.

Acting Commissioner Malley also provided more information about the night Sharon disappeared from the town camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs.

“Sharon’s mum was over there to do some washing, and she knew people there, so she was quite welcome in that area,” Acting Commissioner Malley said.

Volunteers search in a line

Alice Springs-based organisations have been rallying to help the search effort. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)

He said Mr Lewis, who had only been released from prison six days prior, “just happened to be present” at the same location that night and that he only had a “loose connection” to Sharon’s family.

History of man police are searching for over 5yo missing girl

A mugshot of an Aboriginal man, serious expression looking directly at camera, yellow / orange pigment behind brown eyes.

A man being sought in connection with the alleged abduction of five-year-old Sharon Granites near Alice Springs has a long history of violence and prison time in the Northern Territory.

The acting commissioner said Mr Lewis was last seen at 11pm that night “holding hands” with the five-year-old.

He said police believed Mr Lewis had later “led the little girl away” but they had so far been unable to identify a motive for the suspected abduction.

Acting Commissioner Malley added that Mr Lewis was probably “under the influence of alcohol” at the time.

Asked if the search for the five-year-old girl should have begun earlier, Acting Commissioner Malley said the police force had “done everything within its power” to find Sharon and that the search was “up and running very, very early”.

Ms Liddle said the mother of the five-year-old girl was “distraught” and was going through “every parent’s worst nightmare”.

She thanked the broader community for their “overwhelming support”.

Police reiterated their calls for more information, urging the public to report “any sightings” of Sharon or Mr Lewis.

Volunteers join police in painstaking search

Dozens of volunteers have joined police today in painstakingly searching about 20 square kilometres of “dense bushland” for Sharon, with Matt Hall, a sergeant from the NT Police search and rescue section, saying more officers were on their way.

He said the support from the community had been “immense”, with up to 60 volunteers now involved in the search.

At least a dozen people walking in unison away from a high fence and into long grass, as part of a search.

Police and volunteers have been conducting on-foot line searches for Sharon Granites. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)

But the sergeant said conditions were challenging, due to “vastness of the area”, with grass in some places up to 1 metre high.

“You can’t see half a metre either side of you, so to cover it, we have a rule of thumb that if you can’t see the other searchers’ ankles, you need to move closer. We just don’t want to miss anything,” he said.

Sergeant Hall said after more than 48 hours in the desert air, where temperatures can reach single digits overnight, concern was turning to the potential effects of exposure.

A small group of police officer and volunteers walking through long grass, as part of a search.

Parts of the foot search area are overgrown with buffel grass, making the search slow going. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)

“You’ve got a mix between cold at night and then quite hot and dry in the day,” he said.

“At this stage, what we know is there’s a five-year-old potentially out in the elements and as with every other person, they’re subject to those elements.”

The search so far

The search for Sharon began in the early hours of Sunday morning, after her family realised the five-year-old had gone missing from a home in the Old Timers camp — a house in which police confirmed Mr Lewis was also staying.

Members of the town camp — one of 17 Aboriginal communities in and around Alice Springs incorporated in the 1970s and administered by the Tangentyere Council — started looking for Sharon but were unable to find her.

The entrance of a town camp, with a man pushing a bike walking into the area.

Sharon Granites was noticed missing from her home at the Old Timers town camp after being put to bed at about 11:30pm on Saturday. (ABC News: Will Green)

Once police were alerted to her disappearance, doorknocks and further searches by officers were conducted in and around the community.

Over Sunday and yesterday, the air search for Sharon covered around 46 square kilometres, while the foot search area has encompassed around 20 square kilometres, much of which is thick scrubland and rough terrain.

A map, using satellite imagery, showing Ilyperenye/Old Timers town camp in relation to Alice Springs and Kilgariff.

Ilyperenye/Old Timers town camp is situated between the Alice Springs town centre and the suburb of Kilgariff. (ABC News Graphics: Jessica Henderson)

As well as two helicopters, the search for Sharon has used heat sensor drones and dozens of emergency services and non-government organisation workers joining forces for ground searches.

Town camp organisation assisting in searches

As well as NT Police, NT Fire and Rescue has been assisting in the searches, as well as Alice Springs-based organisations including Tangentyere Council and Purple House.

Tangentyere Council president Maxine Carlton said about 36 of their staff had taken part in foot patrols.

A woman sitting outside under a tree, in a bush environment, and speaking to someone off-camera.

Maxine Carlton says dozens of Tangentyere Council staff are helping with the searches. (ABC News: Will Green)

“We’ve also reached out to other Aboriginal organisations to assist in this search,” she said.

“We came onboard straight away as we knew, this is a town camp, we are a part of this.”

Tangentyere Council is also helping to support Sharon’s family and other Old Timers community members as they deal with the stress and trauma of the circumstances.

“This is a very distressing time for all families,” Ms Carlton said.

Police and volunteers search grassland

Maxine Carlton hopes the search will deliver “good news” soon. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)

She said that while police had been doing exceptional work in the search, the wider community should have been notified “within an hour” after Sharon went missing.

“Alice Springs should’ve been in a lockdown [by Sunday morning],” she said.

“But we would like to thank the police and the SES. They are doing a really fantastic job.

“We hope there’s good news in the near future.”

Prime minister, other representatives offer support

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sharon’s disappearance “breaks the heart of everyone who hears about this story”.

“Every parent’s worst fear is your child going missing,” he said.

“On behalf of all Australians, we want to see a safe return.”

NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro released a statement on social media about Sharon’s disappearance, stating an  “enormous effort” by emergency services was under way.

“Our thoughts are with little Sharon, her family, and the wider community at this deeply distressing time,” she said.

Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said her “heart goes out to Sharon’s family and her community”.

On Tuesday, NT Speaker and Alice Springs-based MLA Robyn Lambley said she had joined the search effort, labelling it a “solemn experience, looking through the grass for a missing child”.

“So many people are doing a magnificent job trying to find little Sharon,” she said.