ONSLOW COUNTY, N.C. -- Alex Woods, the biological father of missing three-year-old Mariah Woods, is heartbroken.
"I just didn't believe it," Woods told WGHP. "Like a nightmare, like I was dreaming, sleeping. It just didn't seem real."
Mariah Woods disappeared from her home in Onslow County either late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
The toddler, investigators said, was last seen when her mother put to bed on Sunday night. Her mother reported Mariah missing the next morning.
But Woods, who hasn't seen his daughter in about a year, said he thought there was more to the story. He said he believed his daughter was not abducted.
"Somebody just walks right in there, grabs a three-year-old out the bed, she didn't cry, she didn't scream?” he said. “Nobody heard nothing?”
“Four people in the house, two adults and two babies and somebody just comes, snatches the baby up and walks out?" he said.
Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller said investigators have searched for Mariah by foot, air and are using K-9s.
“Right now, 225 investigators, agents, and other law enforcement are working around the clock with one goal in mind,” Miller said. “That goal is to find Mariah and to bring her back home.”
The sheriff has even called on the community to help.
“If you have a shed, a barn, a wooded area, go take a look,” Miller said. “Call us immediately if you see something out of the ordinary. No piece of information is too small."
It’s a search Woods says gets more painful each day.
"I want my baby back,” Woods said.
Investigators say they've gotten more than 140 leads and have done about 100 interviews.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Onslow County Sheriff's Office at (910) 455-3113.
