Police in Colorado have not confirmed the age or gender of a body they recovered from a rural area not far from the home of missing 10-year old girl Jessica Ridgeway. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
Police searching for missing Colorado schoolgirl Jessica Ridgeway found a body late Wednesday near the spot where she vanished, but at a brief press conference Thursday they said they were continuing to hunt for the 10-year-old.
AP
Jessica Ridgeway disappeared while making the short walk to school Friday.
The body was removed from Pattridge Park in Arvada -- an area dotted with abandoned coal mines -- by Westminster Police just before 9 p.m. Wednesday (11 p.m. ET).
Westminster Police spokesman Trevor Materasso did not release the gender or approximate age of the body, and said police have not tied the discovery of the body to the search for the missing girl.
At a short press conference Thursday morning, Westminster Police said investigators will continue the search in the Westminster neighborhood where Jessica lives.
Authorities said Wednesday they believed Jessica, a fifth-grader with blond hair and glasses who loves math and gym class, had been abducted. She disappeared Friday on what should have been a short walk to school.
After initially saying that the public didn't need to fear a kidnapper, the police said they were investigating whether Jessica's case might be related to that of another girl who was abducted for several hours Monday in Cody, Wyoming.
In that case, a man lured the 11-year-old girl into a sport utility vehicle, saying he needed help finding his puppy. The girl was released four hours later and was discovered by hunters. Police there are looking for a white man, between 55 and 60 years old, with short, strawberry-blond or white hair and a neatly trimmed mustache.
Police explore link between missing Colorado girl and Wyoming abduction
In Colorado, the parents of a missing 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway open up for the first time since their daughter disappeared on her way to school. They vow to "never stop looking." NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Westminster police spokeswoman Karlyn Tilley noted there is "no specific connection" between Jessica's disappearance and the Wyoming case. "It's just like everything else they're looking at," Tilley said Wednesday. "They just don't want to leave any stone unturned."
Adding to the mystery was a reported sighting more than 2,000 miles away in Dexter, Maine.
A woman reported seeing a girl who looked like Jessica on Sunday, in a blue Buick station wagon with Colorado plates. Authorities issued a statewide alert for officers to stop any blue Buick station wagons with Colorado plates, Dexter police Sgt. Alan Grinnell said.
Citizens also have passed on tips from Maryland, Texas and Nevada, Materasso said.
Police release new photos, video in search for missing Colorado girl
Kathryn Scott Osler / The Denver Post via AP
After giving the interview, Jessica's mother Sarah Ridgeway and father, Jeremiah Bryant, embrace at the Westminster Police Department Tuesday.
Backpack, water bottle found
Police in the Denver suburb of Westminster repeatedly have urged the public to study the details of Jessica?s face in a photo ? a small, gap-toothed grin, a slight bruise on her nose ? and a short home video, in hopes they may have seen something or come across the girl.
The only real clue police have revealed is the discovery over the weekend of a backpack and water bottle that Jessica had with her when she disappeared.
The items were found in the town of Superior, some six miles from her home. Police won't discuss what was found in the bag or testing results on it.
The search for Jessica went national, thanks in part to social media and a Facebook page set up to help find the girl.
"Do your good deed of the day and retweet Jessica's photo," hundreds of Tweets urged Wednesday.
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