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Fayetteville kidnapping suspect arrested, girl still missing
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Published: November 12, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE
A North Carolina man has been arrested and charged with kidnapping in the disappearance of a 5-year-old girl, but police were still searching for the child early Thursday - two days after she went missing.
Clarence Coe was arrested without incident at his Fayetteville home around 11 p.m. Wednesday and charged with first degree kidnapping, Fayetteville police said in a statement.
Investigators were still looking for Shaniya Davis, who was reported missing from her home in Fayetteville's Sleepy Hollow mobile home park around 7 a.m. Tuesday, said Lt. Alex Thompson. Her mother said she last saw Shaniya that day around 5:30 a.m.
Police have said they suspected foul play and doubted the girl would have wandered away from her home so early in the morning. They said police dogs didn't pick up the child's scent during a search of the neighborhood.
Thompson said detectives have not yet said whether Coe knew the child. Coe was being held at the Cumberland County jail, where a worker said records didn't indicate whether Coe had an attorney or a scheduled court appearance.
Investigators found a blanket that may have belonged to Shaniya in a garbage can outside a neighbor's home. Fecal matter was found on the blanket and on the railing and porch of Davis' residence, where police wouldn't allow anyone inside because of a sewage leak.
Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Davis, and her father, who flew in from out of state, have been speaking with investigators. Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance told WRAL-TV on Wednesday that the family had a history with the state Department of Social Services regarding the custody of Shaniya and other children in the home. She told the Fayetteville Observer that Shaniya's father wasn't considered a suspect.
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