Elizabeth Olten Still Missing: Search Continues for 9-Year-Old Missouri Girl

"Her mom's a wreck," Vicki Olten, the aunt of missing Elizabeth Olten, told the gathered reporters at the press conference called Thursday evening to give an update on the search for the missing St. Martins, Missouri, 9-year-old. The family wanted to thank the hundreds of volunteers that turned out to help the more than 100 law enforcement, emergency workers, and local officials that were already searching for the missing girl. Elizabeth Olten went missing Wednesday evening around 6:15 p.m. walking the quarter-mile from her friend's house to her own home.

According to the Jefferson City News Tribune, the search has centered around a wooded area between the two houses. Elizabeth Olten was carrying a cell phone when she went missing. Authorities tracked the cell phone to an area of the woods and searchers are focused in that general area. "We've gone over the entire area twice, on foot and with the assistance of GPS tracking," Clay County Sheriff Greg White said. "We haven't found the phone she was carrying, either."

No foul play is suspected in the young girl's disappearance, so an Amber Alert has not been issued. Vicki Olten stated that changes should be made to the system so that cases like Elizabeth's could be put on the Amber Alert network.

Elizabeth Olten's family told authorities that their little girl was afraid of the dark and the woods, which is why the family called the Cole County Sheriff's Office when their daughter wasn't home by 7 p.m. Investigators also quickly ruled out that Elizabeth Olten was she a likely runaway.

Searchers were using hand-held infra-red devices to search for the 9-year-old. So many volunteers showed up to help with the search that Clay County Sheriff White had to turn some away, citing that the number of searchers needed to be monitored because of the infra-red devices. A helicopter from the Missouri State Police with infra-red instruments was brought in to help with the search Wednesday night.

Elizabeth Olten's story began making national headlines just shortly after news broke that the small body of a girl had been found in a Georgia landfill. The body was later identified as that of missing 7-year-old Somer Thompson of Orange Park, Florida. Although an autopsy had been completed, the Sheriff's department refused to comment on the cause of death or the condition of the body, according to ABC News.

As Diena Thompson, Somer Thompson's mother, vowed justice for her daughter on ABC's "Good Morning America" Friday, police in Orange Park were searching a house just 500 from where the 7-year-old was last seen. Somer Thompson disappeared while walking home from school Monday afternoon.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler told "Good Morning America" Thursday that he was worried. "There is a child killer on the loose," he said. "I fear for our community." But he also said that he was confident that they would capture the killer.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts or with information about 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten is urged to contact a special 24-hour tip line: 866-362-6422 or call the Cole County Sheriff's Department: (573) 634-9160.

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Sources:

NewsTribune.com
ABCNews.go.com
"Good Morning America," ABC Television