RAEFORD (AP) ó Investigators in North Carolina are looking for a 17-year-old girl who ran away from home last week with a 9-month-old she was baby-sitting.
Hoke County Sheriff’s officials said they think the pair went to Georgia or Alabama on a bus Saturday.
Investigators don’t know what prompted the sitter, Renesha Shante Griner, to leave with the baby, Saniya Purcell, said sheriff’s Capt. John Kivett. The captain said Griner was keeping while the infant’s mother went away for the weekend.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has listed the pair on its web site. Kivett said no Amber Alert was issued because the baby isn’t thought to be endangered.
Griner called the baby’s mother last week and asked if she could baby-sit the child, Kivett said. Griner picked the child up Friday while the mother, Victoria Purcell, left the for the weekend.
“She comes back and can’t get in touch with the sitter. Then she found out the sitter ran away from home with the baby,” Kivett said.
“If the mother felt the sitter was endangering the child, she would never have let (Griner) take the child.”
Kivett asked anyone with information about the case to call the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office at 910-875-5111.
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On the Net:
Center for Missing and Exploited Children: http://www.missingkids.com
Hoke County Sheriff’s Office: http://www.hokecounty.org/sheriff.htm