Man arrested for kidnapping while 5-year-old remains missing

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man has been charged with kidnapping a 5-year-old girl, but police were still searching for the child Thursday, two days after she was reported missing.

Clarence Coe, 30, 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. He was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon in Cumberland County.

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 had previously said they suspected foul play and doubted the girl would have wandered away so early in the morning. Investigators have said police dogs did not pick up the child’s scent during a search of the neighborhood.

Thompson said detectives have not yet indicated whether Coe knew the child. Coe was being held at the Cumberland County jail, where a worker said records didn’t indicate whether he had an attorney.

Coe has several criminal charges on his state record, including an April conviction for misdemeanor breaking and entering. He was released from prison in mid-August, according to Department of Correction records.

He was previously convicted of assault on a female, felony breaking and entering, larceny, robbery and other charges dating back to 2001.

Investigators found a blanket that may have belonged to Shaniya in a garbage can outside a neighbor’s home. Thompson said investigators also found other items Shaniya may have been wearing.

Shaniya’s mother, Antoinette Davis, and her father, who flew in from out of state, have been speaking with investigators.

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