Massive search continues for 7-year-old Athena Strand
WISE COUNTY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — A massive search is underway for Athena Presley Monroe Strand, 7, who was reported missing in Wise County the evening of Nov. 30 and has yet to be found.
Dozens of law enforcement officials along with about 150 volunteers are combing through Strand's neighborhood, looking for the girl. Their efforts began Wednesday night and continued into Thursday.
"Look at how many people are here. It doesn't matter what we're going through, we're all moms, we're all family you know we have to rely on each other for this, because we are all out here together," said volunteer Chasity Allerkamp.
At first they searched a six acre radius around Strand's father's house. But is has since expanded, to include the FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety and Fort Worth police officers on foot and horseback. Several K-9 units, drones with heat seeking technology and ATVS were also used.
Strand was last seen near the 200 block of County Road 3573 just to the west of Cottondale. She was wearing a plaid jacket, jeans and boots.
Her stepmother called the sheriff's department just after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night to report her missing. By the next afternoon, an Amber Alert was issued on Strand's behalf.
The sheriff's department said there was an argument between Strand and her stepmother, and that the child's father wasn't home at the time. Additionally, they said foul play isn't suspected and that Strand likely ran away. However, authorities are not ruling out someone took her.
"We're looking at everything from the criminal standpoint or just a missing child so we're not going to leave anything unturned and we're not going to put the blinders on either," said Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin. "It could be any number of things and we're looking at all those possibilities."
Another issue of concern for law enforcement officials, is the cold weather.
Anyone with information on Strand's whereabouts is asked to call the Wise County Sheriff's Office at 940-627-5971.