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UPDATE:WEST VALLEY CITY -- West Valley City police called for an Amber Alert Thursday afternoon and began looking for a missing girl whom they now say may not have been missing after all.
The Amber Alert expired at 10 p.m. Thursday because police found no solid evidence of a kidnapping.
A woman claims she saw two men pull a young girl into a car but provided little information about the vehicle.
"What the witness is describing is two individuals traveling northbound, veered through traffic, stopped abruptly, got out and picked this girl up. And it certainly caught [her] attention, and now it's caught ours," Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said Thursday afternoon.
Police officers were called to the scene just after 2 p.m. and remained there until the alert was called off.
PREVIOUS STORY:WEST VALLEY CITY -- The Unified Police Department has issued an Amber Alert after a woman reported seeing a young girl abducted in West Valley City.
According to Lt. Don Hutson, a woman reported seeing two men in a white sedan veer across several lanes toward a young girl who was skateboarding near 5600 West and 5000 South around 10 a.m. Thursday. The woman said the men stopped in front of the girl, pulled her into the car and took off.
Police say the girl took the skateboard with her when she was picked up. There was nothing left behind or any indication of a fight.
Identity of child unknown
The woman said the girl appeared to be about 8 years old with blond hair and was wearing a light blue sundress.
Hutson says investigators are trying to identify the abducted girl by going door to door in the neighborhood where she was pulled into the car. "We hope that somebody arrives home and says, 'I'm watching the news now and that was me or a relative that picked up our daughter,' and they'll call and get this thing resolved." -Sheriff Jim Winder
Police immediately began treating the case as an abduction. Around 2:30 p.m., they issued the Amber Alert.
One of the criteria for an Amber Alert is that there is a confirmed abduction. Even though police don't know the identity of the girl, they still have a witness describing what she saw.
"Probably already 100 resources are amassed in the area, we will begin doing door to door contacts with residents, reverse 911, we'll be taking all of the precautions we possibly can," said Sheriff Jim Winder with the Unified Police Department.
Witness describes vehicle, suspects
The witness said the vehicle appeared to be an early-90s model white sedan, possibly a Nissan or Honda, with rust on the car's body. She said its license plate contains the numbers 9770J or 977AJ.
The two men are described as in their 30s. One suspect is roughly 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds. He has short black hair and appears to be in his 30s. He was wearing a white T-shirt and light blue jeans.
Sheriff describes police efforts
Winder joined KSL for a live interview Thursday evening.
"The phase of the operation we're in now is, as individuals return back to their home tonight, we're hoping again that we get definitive leads here," he said. "We're hoping someone either calls and confirms and says, 'Yes, my 8-year-old, my daughter is not here,' then we know that we have a confirmed abduction."
On the other hand, Winder said, "We hope that somebody arrives home and says, 'I'm watching the news now and that was me or a relative that picked up our daughter,' and they'll call and get this thing resolved."
Winder said efforts will continue until the investigators and the leads indicate they shouldn't move forward. For the time being, they're treating this as a potential abduction.
"Hopefully any family would recognize a missing individual that age by about 9:00 or 10:00," Winder said. "We'll reevaluate come 10:00, 11:00 tonight and see how many resources we continue to deploy before we make a definitive statement."
Winder asked the public to speak to neighbors and friends and family -- especially those in the Kearns and West Valley City area near where the incident occurred -- for any pertinent information and to call police.
Winder stressed that no criminal charges have been filed and reiterated they are still investigating to determine that this is a confirmed abduction.
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Story compiled with contributions from Anne Forester and Nkoyo Iyamba.
