Amber Alert - Tennessee

Toddler Missing More Than 24 Hours Posted: 4/25/2006 8:00:00 AM Updated: 4/25/2006 8:34:08 AM

Tuesday morning an amber alert was still active for a Smyrna toddler. Community members held a candlelight vigil on Monday for the missing toddler. Two-year-old Analyce Guerra disappeared Sunday night from her apartment.

Many of those community members, along with other officials, spent Monday morning searching for Analyce. At first, people thought she had walked away during the night. By Monday afternoon, however, police were processing a crime scene.

At first, police did not suspect foul play, but now they are calling the case suspicious. There are still no signs of the missing toddler.

An amber alert was issued Monday morning. Officials said the toddler went missing sometime between 11:00 Sunday night and 4:00 Monday morning.

Her mother said she woke up around 4:00 a.m. and saw that the door was unlocked to the apartment and her daughter was missing. Police were called at 4:25 a.m. and immediately went door to door at the Meadow Wood Apartment complex looking for the girl.

Analyce is a 26-month-old Hispanic child. She was in a blue jean dress with flowers, and she has a cherry birth mark on the left side of her face.

“There are a couple areas that we are concerned about. There’s a creek area that’s not too far. So we are going to look in that area very heavily right now,” Sgt. Ken Hampton with the Smyrna Police department said Monday morning.

Monday morning police had set up a command post on Nissan Drive, across the street from the Meadow Wood Apartments, where the girl and her mother live.

Search dogs were out, 50 volunteers gathered and a helicopter with heat censors also helped in the search.

If you have seen Analyce, please contact the Smyrna Police. Department at 615-459-6644 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

SMYRNA — Police have suspended the search of missing 28-month-old girl Analyce Guerra and are spending the day interviewing people that may have had contact with the family.

“Hopefully they can give us a better idea of where she might be,” said Sgt. Ken Hampton, public information officer of the Smyrna Police Department.

Detectives have interviewed the toddler’s 4-year-old sister, who said “someone came and got (Analyce) and that person was Santa Claus,” Hampton said. “It’s possible someone may have taken her and it’s possible she may have walked away.”

Analyce was last seen by her mother, Eva Guerra, around 11:30 p.m. Sunday at her Meadow Wood Apartment. The mother discovered her daughter missing when she woke up about 4 a.m. Monday and noticed the door to the apartment was unlocked.

Anyone who has seen the child or may have information is urged to call Smyrna Police at 459-6644 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

from the lastest news:
http://dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060425/NEWS01/60425003

FBI joins search for missing girl

SMYRNA — Police now have the help of FBI agents from the agency’s Missing Children’s Task Force to aid them in the search for 28-month-old Analyce Guerra.

Investigators have followed several leads from callers who believe they have seen the girl, who disappeared from her family’s apartment on Nissan Drive late Sunday night or early Monday morning. One believed sighting came from the Wal-Mart SuperCenter on Enon Springs Road East, about a mile from where the girl lived, said Sgt. Ken Hampton.

Wednesday morning, investigators prevented anyone from entering the Meadow Wood Apartments property while they searched cars in the parking lot and apartment units.

A media briefing will be held at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

http://dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060426/NEWS01/60426007

Many tips, but no Analyce
By MEALAND RAGLAND-HUDGINS
mragland@dnj.com

SMRYNA — FBI agents joined local and state investigators on Wednesday in hopes of solving the mysterious disappearance of Analyce Guerra.

Investigators, now numbering close to 100, have followed several leads from callers who believe they have seen the 28-month-old child, who disappeared from her family's apartment on Nissan Drive late Sunday night or early Monday morning. One sighting came from the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Enon Springs Road East, about a mile from where the girl lived, said Sgt. Ken Hampton, public information officer of the Smyrna Police Department.

"Every time (people) see a dark-haired Hispanic girl, they call. And we do go and check," he said.

Analyce's mother, Eva Guerra, has said that her daughter has, at times, unlocked the door to go outside when she heard other children playing nearby. Guerra shares the three-bedroom apartment with her six children, ranging from age 2 to 11. Analyce disappeared between 11:30 p.m. Sunday and 4 a.m. Monday.

Several psychics have contacted police to see if they can help with the case.

"There's a lot of theories people have had, but (investigators) have come up with nothing," Hampton said.

Working the case are Smyrna Police, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and The Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Instead of monitoring cases of missing children, the FBI is now mandated to help expedite the search, Hampton said. The FBI's Missing Children's Task Force is aiding in the search.

On Wednesday morning, investigators went back to square one and searched every unit and car at Meadow Wood Apartments. No new clues were found, Hampton said.

"Where are we going to go from here? I don't know. They're brainstorming at all times," he said. "Everyone that they've wanted to interview, they've interviewed. The focus is to make sure every base has been covered.

"From a police officer's point of view, I know we're doing everything we can," Hampton added.

The TBI has contacted and interviewed the 12 registered sex offenders in Smyrna.

Police say Eva Guerra has had several boyfriends, but none of them are currently suspected in the child's disappearance.

"If so, they would have arrested (someone) by now. Sometimes we have to interview people three or four times before we get the information we need out of them," Hampton said. "We haven't focused on one person yet."

Jenefer Sullivan didn't know the Guerras before Analyce's disappearance. Even though she works two full-time jobs, she and her daughter Taylor and her mother, Mari Byers, have helped look for the girl since Monday evening.

"I felt like it was needed," Sullivan said late Wednesday morning.

Byers wants to open a reward fund with a local bank.

"They already got $1,000 from a family friend," she said.

Nehemias Guerra, Analyce's father, said the family spent most of Wednesday afternoon looking for her. When asked how the day had gone for them, "not good" was his answer.

"We've been to Wal-Mart, Kmart. Nothing nowhere," he said.

Nehemias Guerra and Eva have been separated for 18 months. He works for a construction firm in Franklin while she is a stay-at-home mother.

Last Dec. 17, Eva Guerra and her children lost all of their Christmas gifts in a duplex fire at 419 McClary Road, not far from the apartment complex in which they now live. Guerra said investigators initially blamed him for the blaze, which is listed as an arson.

"They tried to put the charges on me, but they didn't have any proof," he said.

The investigation into the fire remains open, Fire Chief Bill Culbertson said.

Anyone with information on Analyce's whereabouts is urged to call Smyrna Police at 459-6644 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

copied from:
http://dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060427/NEWS01/604270315/1002

Search for missing girl turns to Stewarts Creek
By MEALAND RAGLAND-HUDGINS
mragland@dnj.com

SMYRNA — The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Special Operations Team spent Thursday morning searching Stewarts Creek for 28-month-old Analyce Guerra.

Sgt. Ken Hampton, public information officer of the Smyrna Police Department, said there were no clues or leads that prompted the search.

“It’s just a matter of going back to make sure nobody missed anything,” he said.

Eva Guerra, Analyce’s mother, said she last saw her daughter around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Guerra said when she woke up for a drink of water at 4 a.m. Monday, her daughter was missing and the door to their apartment was unlocked.

Originally published April 27, 2006

http://dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060427/NEWS01/60427002

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