Family Of Missing Miami Gardens Girl Asks For Help
MIAMI GARDENS (CBS4) – The family of a missing Miami Gardens girl is asking the public for their help in finding her.
Maliane Sharpe Ubiera, 11, was last seen Tuesday night around 10 p.m. outside the family home at 17820 NW 43rd Ct.
"I am very, very, very worried," said Alfredo Sharpe, the girl's grandfather. "I would like to be with her here."
Sharpe also told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "This girl has been with us since just after she was born. I would like to know where she is."
Sharpe and his wife have taken care of Ubiera since she was four months old. Sharpe said she left behind her cell phone, her laptop computer and her iPad in her bedroom.
Ubiera is described as 5' 4" tall and weighing 200 pounds. She was last seen wearing a red dress.
Ubiera's stepfather Cildo Chavez said the waiting for news about what happened to her is almost unbearable.
"As time goes on, as the clock ticks, we think the worst, there's no way we can be prepared for this. We are very worried for her," said Chavez.
Police say she has no history of running away. They add that she may be in the company of a 20-year-old white/hispanic man, 5' 7" tall, 175 pounds, dark hair and clean shaven last seen wearing blue jeans, black t-shirt and black and white sneakers.
"Police may be coming out here with a sketch artist," he said. "But that's not clear."
Chavez says she has no history of running away.
Police say that she may be in the company of a 20-year-old white/hispanic man, 5′ 7″ tall, 175 pounds, dark hair and clean shaven last seen wearing blue jeans, black t-shirt and black and white sneakers."
"We are very concerned about her at this point," said Miami Gardens Police Detective Michael Wright. "We are concerned about her being out in the elements. There is lightning and we are not sure where she is."
In a newsconference outside the grandparents' home late Thursday afternoon, Wright was asked if police suspected foul play.
"At this point we are not looking at that," he said. "We are treating this just as a missing person, a missing person who we want to find."
Sharpe said he's been told his granddaughter has spoken to more than 120 people in the last few months through online chat rooms. Ubiera's mother had recently passed away. Chavez said he has no idea where she may be.
"There's a lot of bad people out there. We just see some of the people that she was in contact with and that's scary," said Chavez. "The family needs her back. She definitely needs to come back and we need everybody's help for this. Somebody has to have seen something."
Wright confirmed that police are taking a close look at who Ubiera had been in touch with online.
"That is definitely part of our investigation," he said.
"The family needs her back. She definitely needs to come back and we need everybody's help for this. Somebody has to have seen something," Chavez said.
A statewide missing child alert has been issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami Gardens Police (305) 474-6473, Detective Gonzalez at (305) 967-5639 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
