• Passerby hears screams, finds missing 5-year-old girl

    View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

    By Kelly Bayliss, NBC10.com

    Missing 5-year-old Nailla Robinson, the girl who was snatched from a Cobbs Creek, Pa., school Monday, was found safe in Delaware County overnight.

    Robinson was found on a playground on 69th Street by a passerby, wearing only a T-shirt, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

    "This morning around 4:40 [a.m.] a fellow on his way to work heard screams for help, he was walking, he goes over to a playground area and finds a little girl hiding underneath the jungle gym," Chitwood told NBC10's Tim Furlong.

    The man immediately called police.

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    Police tell NBC10 that she told them she was taken from school the day before and that she was cold and scared.

    The little girl is at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for evaluation. Nailla's mom, Latifah Abdur-Rashid, told NBC10's Claudia Rivero that her daughter is preparing to be examined. She also says Nailla told her that she was blindfolded during her abduction. 

    Now, police are looking for the person that took her from school Monday morning.

    Nailla, a kindergartner at the Cullen Bryant Elementary School on 60th and Cedar Avenue, was allegedly snatched from the school around 8:50 a.m. by a woman claiming to be her mother.

    The Philadelphia School District released a statement saying that the school didn't realize the girl was missing until Abdur-Rashid came to pick her up.

    Video of Abdur-Rashid leaving to see her daughter for first time since abduction

    Nailla's family told NBC10 that surveillance video shows that a woman who appeared to be pregnant, wearing Muslim garb and going by the name "Tiffany" told school officials that she needed to take her daughter to breakfast. Then "Tiffany" signed Nailla out of school and walked away with her, according to the family.

    "In the surveillance camera that the school has that I watched, she's dressed in traditional over-garment and Niqab," said Abdur-Rashid. "She has her face covered and only her eyes showing. She's wearing gloves. She's wearing all black. She has something white on her arm and she has a long black umbrella. The surveillance camera shows them walking through the hallway to get to the door. The next camera picks up and she's putting her umbrella up. Then they disappear."

    Anyone with information on the incident is urged to call police.

  • Girl, 10, last seen with woman accused of slashing Las Vegas casino dealer's face

    Las Vegas Police Department

    An undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows Jade Morris, 10.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    LAS VEGAS -- Police issued a new plea for information Thursday about a 10-year-old girl last seen with a card dealer just hours before the woman was accused of slashing a co-worker's face with razor blades at a Las Vegas Strip casino.


    Police said Brenda Stokes told them she visited her doctor last week, seeking to be admitted to a hospital because she was "feeling like she wanted to hurt someone." She is reported to have told investigators she hadn't taken her prescription anti-anxiety drug Friday, and that "Sometimes people just snap." 

    A missing persons alert was issued late Tuesday about Jade Morris, 10, who officials say was last seen by her family about 5 p.m. last Friday with Stokes, 50, who also uses the name Brenda Wilson.

    Police said Stokes was a friend of the girl's father and was supposed to have taken the girl Christmas shopping at an outlet mall off Interstate 15 near downtown Las Vegas.

    Capt. Chris Jones, a supervisor in the Police Department's robbery-homicide division, said Stokes borrowed a red 2007 Saab sedan from another friend for the shopping trip but returned it.

    A short time later, Stokes was arrested at the Bellagio casino, after being accused of attacking a female co-worker, Joyce Rhone, as the woman dealt blackjack.

    Stokes is accused of wielding a razor blade in each hand as she attacked Rhone, who was hospitalized with deep cuts on her face, including one from her ear to the edge of her mouth. A police arrest report said Rhone, 44, also had several smaller cuts around her right eye.

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    Jade Morris' father interrupted an initial court appearance for Stokes, shouting, " “You said you love me? Where's my baby at?" NBC station KSNV of Las Vegas reported.

    Records show that Stokes was being held Thursday on $60,000 bail at the Clark County jail on felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could get her decades in prison.

    She told a judge Wednesday that she had not obtained a lawyer. She is due again in Las Vegas Justice Court on Friday.

    Clark County Detention Center

    Brenda Stokes, 50, is shown in a booking photo.

    The arrest report says casino video shows Stokes attacking Rhone before a casino patron and security officers intervene. Officer Marcus Martin said the video is evidence that may be shown by prosecutors in court but will not be made public by police.

    Police said Stokes later told investigators that she attacked Rhone over harassing phone calls and an unspecified betrayal that ended their seven-year friendship.

    Tejuana Reeves, Jade’s mother, told KSNV that she wanted to jump up and shake Stokes in the courtroom because she wouldn't say where the child was.

    "From mother to mother, that feels so wrong," Reeves said. "I feel so betrayed because we trusted her with our child.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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  • Brothers killed 12-year-old NJ girl for bike parts, authorities say

    Teen brothers arrested in the murder of 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale in New Jersey allegedly lured the girl to their house and killed her for her BMX bicycle parts. WCAU's Jesse Gary reports.

    By NBC News staff and wire

    Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET: CLAYTON, N.J. -- Two teenage brothers have been charged in the death of 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale, whose body was found in a recycling bin, a New Jersey prosecutor says.

    Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton said Pasquale died in a manner consistent with strangulation.

    "Preliminary investigation shows no signs of sexual assault,” Dalton said, adding “she was lured to the juveniles’ house where this crime was committed." 

    Authorities said they believe the boys wanted parts from Autumn's bike and that she was lured into the house, but Dalton would not speculate on a motive for her killing.

    The boys' father, Alonzo Robinson, told The Star-Ledger of Newark earlier Tuesday that he was interviewed about his sons' involvement in Autumn's disappearance. He said his sons were known for stealing bikes and police told him they found bike parts stockpiled in the basement. He told the newspaper that one of the boys had been previously charged for theft.

    "I think someone wanted the girl's bicycle," Robinson said. "Maybe she wanted her bike and resisted, and one of them snatched her off a bike."

    Joseph Kaczmarek / AP

    Gina Bateman, left, and her sister Carmen Bateman watch as investigators gather at a house on Clayton Avenue in Clayton N.J. on Oct. 23, after the discovery of a girl's body in a home's recycling bin.

    Autumn was last seen around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday leaving her Clayton home while riding a white BMX bike to a friend's house. The girl’s parents called police after she never made it to that friend's house.

    Her body was found late Monday in the recycling bin of a home where the teens' live, about seven blocks from her own, authorities say.

    The boys, ages 15 and 17, are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, disposal of a body, tampering of evidence and theft. The 15-year-old boy was also charged with one count of luring, Dalton said. Both were in police custody.

    Clayton NJ residents face grisly news - missing girl’s body found

    Police believe the boys lured Autumn to their home, promising her parts for her BMX bike. During their investigation, the mother of the teens contacted police regarding postings on a Facebook account of one of the suspects, according to officials.

    “Today we mourn the loss of a young girl…whose life was cut short before it really began,” Dalton said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to her parents, her family. It is my hope that the arrests today provide a measure of closure, that the individuals responsible for their daughter’s death will be held responsible.”

    The case spread fear and worries through the New Jersey town that had been desperately searching for the girl since she disappeared while on a ride through the neighborhood.

    Autumn would have celebrated her 13th birthday on Monday.

    "There's evil everywhere, even in the small town of Clayton," said Paul Spadafora, Autumn's uncle.

    Earlier Tuesday, Spadafora spoke with community members, thanking each of them of helping in the search for his niece.

    Hundreds of volunteers took part in the search effort, including the Clayton Police Department, Child Abduction Response Team, New Jersey State Police, the FBI and officers from 40 other police departments.

    Autumn's bike was found Tuesday by police inside the same small house where Autumn's body was found Monday night, NJ.com reported.

    Autumn's family was notified of the discovery, according to police.

    "This is a very sad day for the Pasquale family," Dalton said in a press release. "Our hearts go out to the family and to all the residents of Clayton who stood together in support of this young girl."

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    Joseph Kaczmarek / AP

    Investigators gather at a house on Clayton Avenue in Clayton, N.J., on Oct. 23, after the discovery of a girl's body in a home's recycling bin.

    Not long before the body was found, hundreds of people gathered at a candlelight vigil to pray for her safe return, NJ.com reported.

    The prosecutor’s office and family had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her return.

    DeAnna Edwards-McMillen, a friend of Autumn’s, said Autumn was at her house Friday night and the two sent each other text messages on Saturday. The last one was received at 1:22 p.m. and DeAnna said she didn't believe it was meant for her, according to The Associated Press.

    The text read, "don't be like that," she said.

    Autumn’s last text message was sent around 2:30 p.m., but Dalton, the prosecutor, would not say who it was intended for or what it said, The AP reported. Dalton said that there was nothing unusual about that message.

    Joseph Kaczmarek / AP

    Family members of Autumn Pasquale participate in a candlelight vigil on Oct. 22 in Clayton, N.J.

    Autumn was reported missing at about 9:30 p.m., 90 minutes past her 8 p.m. curfew, Spadofora said, according to The AP.

    "Say your prayers for Autumn and all the children who are lost and can't find their way home," Spadafora said at a vigil Monday, NJ.com reported.

    Earlier on Monday, Clayton Mayor Tom Bianco said he was proud of the community’s joint effort in searching for Autumn.

    “I can only imagine what her parents and the rest of the family are thinking right now,” Bianco said, according to NJ.com. “I have kids. I can’t even tell you what I feel now. We’ll get through and find her.”

    The Facebook group, Find Autumn Pasquale, has more than 14,000 “likes,” with members offering condolences and words of support.  

    “My family misses u and im so glade that u had such a good time with us camping last weekend [sic],” commented Michelle Doughty after the news was announced early Tuesday. “I have such good memories of u and will always miss u. I will always have u in my heart.”

    NBCPhiladelphia.com's David Chang and Karen Araiza contributed to this report, as did NBC News's Sevil Omer.

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  • 'Possible entry point' found in search for Isabel Mercedes Celis, 6, in Tucson

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Updated at 11:16 p.m. ET: Investigators found "suspicious circumstances around a possible entry point" at the home of a 6-year-old Arizona girl whose disappearance has prompted a massive search, with more than 150 law enforcement officers trying to figure out whether she was abducted, a police spokeswoman said Sunday, according to the Associated Press.

    Tucson police Sgt. Maria Hawke wouldn't comment Sunday on whether the entry point was a bedroom window or a door. But family friend Mary Littlehorn said she heard from others close to the family that a window screen in the girl's bedroom had been knocked down.

    The parents of first-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis have said they last saw her in her bedroom at 11 p.m. Friday, according to Hawke. She was discovered missing at about 8 a.m. Saturday, and the parents phoned 911 minutes later.

    Officers kept the whole neighborhood block where Isabel lives cordoned off for a second day and fanned out over a wide area looking for clues to the possible kidnapping. A fourth search of a three-mile radius around the home was completed Sunday afternoon in temperatures that reached the high-90s, police Lt. Fabian Pacheco said at a Sunday evening news conference.

      

    Pacheco wouldn't comment on the suspicious "entry point," saying: "I don't want to compromise anything."

    Earlier Sunday, Tucson police chief Roberto Villasenor said officers had served at least two search warrants. The girl's parents, identified by friends as Becky and Sergio Celis, were helpful as police worked to find their youngest child, he said. He said police were still classifying the case as a "suspicious disappearance/possible abduction."

    "We're not ruling anything out of the investigation at this point because we really need to keep our mind open about all the information that's been brought to us," Villasenor said. "The family has been cooperating with us."

    Littlehorn, who gathered Sunday with other family friends at a police command post, said authorities separated the two parents for hours Saturday as they questioned them. She said it was difficult for them knowing their little girl was out there somewhere.

    "She hasn't been allowed to help look for her daughter," Littlehorn said of Becky Celis.


    The massive search resumed Sunday morning.

    Scores of police, FBI agents and deputy U.S. marshals combed the city’s east side for Isabel. Officials tried to determine if the girl was kidnapped or just wandered off.

    Isabel’s parents last saw her in bed at 11 p.m. Friday, and they discovered her missing when they woke up around 8 a.m. Saturday, Tucson police spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Hawke said.

    Police using dogs and a helicopter were still out late Saturday night, police communications operator Patrick Olea said.

    Friends of the family distributed fliers with a photo of Isabel, NBC station KVOA in Tucson reported.

    "We're really surprised or shocked that anything like this could happen to our family," the girl's uncle, Justin Mastromarino, told KVOA.

    Hawke said investigators were looking into all potential scenarios, including the possibility that Isabel got up and wandered out of the home she shares with her parents and two brothers or that she was kidnapped.

    Investigators also were examining every door and window of the house for signs of a break-in, Hawke said.

    Both parents live in the home, so police had no indication a child custody dispute was involved but weren't completely ruling it out.

    "We don't want to be caught behind the ball by not exploring that possibility," Hawke said Saturday afternoon.

    The working-class neighborhood of single-family homes is sandwiched between a large shopping mall to the east and businesses and a Catholic school to the west.

    Isabel is described as just under 4 feet tall and weighing 44 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She is missing her two front teeth.

    This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.

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