No progress in search for missing Fort Wayne girl

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The family friend who was watching a 9-year-old girl missing since Friday said her disappearance wasn't noticed for hours because her younger sisters told him she left with their mother.

More than 100 emergency workers conducted an extensive search Saturday for Aliahna Lemmon around the mobile home park on Fort Wayne's north side where she was last seen. No active search was done Sunday for the girl, who has physical and emotional problems.

Aliahna and her sisters were staying at Mike Plumadore's nearby home because their mother had been sick with the flu and Aliahna's stepfather works at night and sleeps during the day, The Journal Gazette (http://bit.ly/t4WR6h ) reported Monday.

Plumadore, 39, told the newspaper Sunday that he left the three girls in his mobile home about 6 a.m. Friday and went to a gas station about a mile away to buy a cigar. Authorities have said the store's surveillance video shows him there about that time.

"I had deadbolted the door," he said. "When I got back, all the girls was here."

He said he smoked his cigar and went back to sleep, then woke up about 10 a.m. when Aliahna's mother called. After that call, he realized the door to the home was unlocked and that Aliahna was gone. He said Aliahna's sisters, both 6 years old, told him that Aliahna had left with her mom.

Plumadore said it wasn't until he talked with Aliahna's mom about 8:30 p.m. that they realized she was missing and police were notified.

Aliahna's mother, Tarah Souders, 28, said miscommunication between the two of them caused the delay in determining that Aliahna had vanished.

"She's never wandered off," Souders said. "She's never done anything like this before."

But Aliahna does have a history of sleepwalking, even unlocking doors and going outside while sleeping, said her grandmother, Amber Story.

"I just hope that she's not suffering or in pain," Story said.

Souders said her daughter also has vision and hearing problems and suffers from attention deficit disorder and emotional problems.

Allen County sheriff's department Cpl. Jeremy Tinkel said a new search wasn't planned for Monday unless new leads arise through tips from the public or interviews.