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Team CoverageIt's Day Three in the search for five year old Destiny Norton and police still have no leads. In their briefing today though, they did say they are still looking for a living girl and are hopeful they can find her alive.
Police have received 70 tips since yesterday morning, but they say none have been concrete. The neighborhood watch team is helping out with the search.
Det. Robin Snyder, SLC Police: "We hope that she is alive, yes, and that is how we are conducting our search, as if she's alive. And that's why we are still going to the public. Please, if you see her, if you see her in a vehicle, give us a call. If you see somebody that looks like her, she has green streaks in her hair which is very distinctive, the silver teeth. Please, if anyone sees anyone that looks like this, give us a call right away."
Destiny was last seen at 8:30 pm on Sunday. Her family believes she walked out the back door of her house and went through a fence, into the yard.
Today, Destiny's family spent hours, talking with the FBI, trying to come up with more leads. Her parents have taken and passed lie detector tests. They've also given DNA samples. Police say they don't believe the Nortons were involved in their daughter's disappearance.
Friends say police have gone through their home with a fine-toothed comb, taking hair samples, clothes, even a piece of wall that had Destiny's handprint.
We spoke briefly with Rachael Norton, Destiny's mother today. It's obvious that this is all taking its toll on the family.
Rachael Norton: "I'm tired, getting more worried as time goes by. We're just trying to keep our hopes up that we find her okay."
Friends tell KSL they do believe Destiny was abducted, but police say right now they don't have any evidence of that.
The number of people out searching for Destiny seems to be growing. The search effort was moved to a new location today, from Liberty Park, a few blocks away to an LDS Stake Center at 1100 South and 445 East. And again today, things seems even more organized with more people coming out to help.
In the basement of the building, volunteers are assigned particular areas, given fliers with a photo and a brief training session. By early afternoon an estimated 150 volunteers had shown up, many united in a desire to help.
Take for example, Tony Morley. He headed out this morning to hand out fliers to a Rose Park neighborhood. He lost his home to a house fire last year, barely getting out. Morley says the community rallied around him with support, so when he heard about the plight of the Norton family, he felt obligated to help. It's a sentiment echoed by many.
Tony Morley, Volunteer, North Salt Lake: "The community came through and helped me out in a big way when I needed it, about a year ago. So now when the opportunity comes up to help somebody else out, you know, I like to get involved."
Tammy Merworth, Volunteer, Murray: "What brings me down here is I'm here to help bring this little girl home. If it was my child, I'd want someone to help me."
That woman says she was living in San Diego in the 90s when seven-year old Danielle Van Damme was abducted. She says she didn't know the area and didn't volunteer to help them, but wanted to make sure to help with this search effort.
This afternoon the search effort expanded to the canyons. Organizers say they'll keep it up tonight, with the last volunteers heading out about 8 pm.
