Investigators searching for a missing 10-year-old girl who disappeared in Philadelphia last week are concerned she’s possibly in danger.
Jalayshia “Malayshia” Alford, who lives in West Philadelphia, was last seen around 7:30 a.m. on October 26, according to a Monday, November 2, news alert issued by the Philadelphia Police Department.
Jalayshia was in foster care at the time of her disappearance, per WPVI-TV, which reports authorities are focusing on her foster care home in the ongoing investigation involving the FBI.
Alford is described as 4-foot-11, weighing around 70 pounds and wears glasses.
She was wearing a blue outfit — specifically a blue uniform polo or button-up shirt, a blue pullover and blue stockings — with Crocs or black sneakers during her last known sighting, police said.
Jalayshia’s family members told CBS News that they became aware of her disappearance after her foster mother called her aunt and claimed Jalayshia had left to go to her biological mother, who doesn’t have custody of the girl.
The aunt said the foster mother claimed she last saw Jalayshia walking by herself to a bus stop the morning of October 26 before she vanished, per the outlet.
FBI agents reportedly visited local residents on Tuesday, November 3, requesting surveillance footage from October 22 through 27 and asked whether anyone had noticed any suspicious activity.
Philadelphia police are concerned Jaylashia is potentially in danger, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Investigators have found video of Jalayshia walking to school and returning home on multiple days before October 26, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore, the newspaper reported. Since then, investigators haven’t found recent footage of her.
“I’m very concerned. It’s been too long, and she’s very young,” Vanore said of her disappearance.
The police chief added to the newspaper that homicide detectives are involved in search efforts.
Police using cadaver dogs were searching the outside of a home along the 500 block of North Simpson Street, where Jalayshia lived, on Monday evening, per WPVI-TV.
The Philadelphia Police Department and the FBI didn’t immediately respond to inquiries from Us regarding possible updates as of Wednesday, November 4.
Police have asked the public for help in finding Jalayashia and encourage anyone with information to contact detectives at 215-686-3183 or 215-686-3184.
“We’ve been everywhere in Philly posting posters of my grandbaby,” Jalayshia’s grandmother Sylvia Brown told CBS News. “I pray that my grandbaby come home, and I pray that y’all help us find her.”
