The FBI, along with the Lumberton County Police Department, released a surveillance photo of the vehicle a suspect stole before he forced a young teen girl inside it Monday morning.
CBS reports that surveillance footage captured a green SUV in Lumberton, just minutes after 13-year-old Hania Aguilar was taken from her home at the Rosewood Mobile Home Park in Lumberton. The vehicle was previously described by authorities as a a green, 2002 Ford Expedition with South Carolina license plate number, NWS-984.
Paint on the hood of vehicle is fading and it has a Clemson sticker on the back window. The vehicle turned left onto Elizabethtown Road as the suspect drove away at around 7 a.m. Monday morning.
Authorities are asking anyone in the Lumberton area with security cameras to save all videos and contact authorities authorities immediately if the vehicle was spotted. They’re also asking anyone with tips, no matter how small, to contact police.
Previous reports indicated that Hania planned to walk to a school bus stop after starting her aunt’s vehicle, but CBS9 reports that the teen’s aunt planned to give her a ride to school and Hania wanted to start up the vehicle and have it ready for her aunt once she walked outside.
“Investigators are interviewing witnesses family and friends as well as conducting a door to door canvas in the neighborhood and checking any surveillance to find out any information we can,” Lumberton Police Chief Mike McNeil said earlier this week.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol were managing road blocks Tuesday morning, where they’re showing drivers a photo of Hania. Some of the drivers were asked to pull aside and speak to detectives.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the victim’s sister, Heylin Perez, said the family asked the girl to wait for them before going outside, but Hania went outside anyway and started up the vehicle, according to WRAL. Heylin said they heard Hania scream out but the family couldn’t get to her in time.
“She just got the keys and started to turn it on. And somewhere out of nowhere the man came in and took her away.”
Authorities are checking surveillance footage in the area, doing door-to-door questioning and going through around 50 tips, according to Lumberton Police Chief Mike McNeil.
McNeil said he’s not sure at this point if the suspect has any weapons on him.
“All we know is that she was forced into the vehicle. Right now all we want is to get this young girl back to her family.”
Hania is a student at Lumberton Junior High School. School officials have made counselors and social workers available to friends and peers, according to Public Schools of Robeson County spokesperson, Tasha Oxendine.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) reports that Hania is described as a Hispanic female with black hair and brown eyes. She stand 5-feet tall and weighs around 126 pounds. She was last seen wearing a blue shirt with flower prints and blue jeans.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact Sgt. Pete Locklear of the Lumberton Police Department at 910-671-3845.
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Hania Aguilar/Handout]
