In a heart-wrenching appeal, the grandmother of Sharon Granites has implored for the safe return of her five-year-old granddaughter, who is feared to have been abducted from her residence in Alice Springs.
Speaking to NT News on Wednesday, Karen White, Sharon’s grandmother, shared her emotional plea, urging the young girl to “come back” as tears filled her eyes. “I want you to come back – grandma missing you,” she expressed, her voice laden with emotion.
White conveyed her heartfelt message both in her native language and in English, emphasizing the depth of her yearning. “Come back home. I love you,” she said, her words punctuated by sobs.
The distressing incident occurred on Saturday, April 25, when Sharon is believed to have been taken from her home at Old Timers Camp. Authorities are currently focusing on 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who they suspect may have played a role in Sharon’s disappearance, as he was reportedly present at the house during the incident.
The young girl is believed to have been abducted from her home at Old Timers Camp on Saturday, April 25.
NT Police suspect 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis – who they said was at the house at the time of Sharon’s disappearance – and may have taken her.
Police said Lewis was seen walking out of the house “with the little girl, holding hands” around 11 p.m.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley said they seized key pieces of evidence at the crime scene on Sunday.
He said the extended crime scene was “really contaminated” by others who were camping at the site, but not involved in the suspected abduction.
“We have seized a number of items from that crime scene, being a doona cover, the shirt that Jefferson Lewis was wearing, and a pair of child’s underwear,” he said.
Police said it was possible the five-year-old was sexually assaulted.
“Those items have been forensically examined and we should have those results back tomorrow to maybe confirm or deny that,” he said.
“Those items have now been transported to Darwin and they are undergoing forensic analysis and I expect to have that back (on Thursday).”
Malley said police believe Lewis was still in the local area.
He said there had been several roadblocks in trying to track Lewis down, including members of the community who were withholding information.
“(There are) people in the community that are not telling us what we need to hear and that is really frustrating,” he said.
“We believe there are serious offenses being committed and people are withholding information from the police.”
He said he believed people were helping hide Lewis from the police.
“Let me be clear about one thing in relation to that, we believe that there are members of the community that absolutely know where Jefferson Lewis is,” he said.
“What I want to say to you is tell us. Tell us what you know. Tell us where he is. Tell us how to contact him.
“If you are withholding information because you are frightened, please have confidence that we will treat that information sensitively.”
‘Hard slog’: Police using old-school tactics to hunt down ex-inmate
A lack of digital footprint was also making the search for Lewis harder, Malley told reporters.
“It is very unusual that we have absolutely no contact, no trace and no location of Mr. Lewis,” he said.
“This man does not have a telephone, a bank account, a car – so some of the usual practices that we do in 2026 are not applicable, hence the amount of resources we have on the ground.
“We are knocking on doors, going through houses, old-style policing, and it is a hard slog.”
Cops hold hope Sharon still alive
Despite being missing for more than 72 hours and no confirmed signs of life, Malley told reporters police still believe Sharon is alive.
“We speak to survival experts and we look at if she was wandering around on her own in the bush and how long she could survive for, and we’re still within that time frame,” he said.
“But once again, we’re considering everything, and she may have come to harm, but we still think she is alive and our number one mission is to find her safe and well.
More than 100 volunteers join search effort
As the search enters its fourth day, police are continuing to scour Alice Springs with the assistance of emergency services and volunteers from the Tangentyere Council and Purple House.
The search has continued in the 20-square-kilometer radius of the Old Timers Camp.
So far, police have “extensively searched” five square kilometers of the area by foot, while the helicopter has scoured more than 80 square kilometers.
“There has been a huge turnout from local community members attending the staging point to assist with the search, boots on the ground is well over 100 people,” an NT Police spokesman told NewsWire.
The major crime unit is also working in conjunction with Alice Springs police, with the fugitive task force called to the town to assist in the search.
Officers from the Western Australia Police have been called in to assist, with police in Queensland and South Australia also on alert.
Lewis has relatives in Western Australia, who have since been contacted by police.
“(WA Police officers) have attended that community and conducted inquiries there,” Malley said.
Old Timers Camp is located on the outskirts of Alice Springs, and is home to about 40 residents spread across nine households.
About 130 volunteers were on the ground as part of the search efforts on Tuesday, with police expecting the same number to assist on Wednesday.
“We’ve had probably about 40 volunteers rock up this morning, it’s fairly fluid, people are coming as they’re available which is fantastic,” Senior Constable Karl Von Minden told ABC.
“People who are attending early straight up are getting straight out there and searching so we hope to get 130 at least, if not more.”
He said the search team and volunteers were going over key areas multiple times, and will continue to expand on Wednesday.
He explained the tough terrain was made trickier to navigate due to shoulder-high barrel grass, uneven sand and rocky terrain.
“The search area, it’s made up of both urban and rural environments, so we’ve got tall grass, it’s especially high for this time of year due to the amount of rain that they’ve had here, which has made it very challenging,” he said.
“Then we’ve got the river bank as well, a lot of sand and bush area, trees, and then the urban side of it, buildings and structure that we’re going through.”
Police ‘determined’ to find missing 5-year-old
Ms. Finocchiaro told 2GB the response from the Alice Springs community had been “incredible”.
“People are walking shoulder-to-shoulder through the bush, trying to leave no stone unturned in a very large area of Alice Springs,” she said.
The search will continue on Wednesday morning, with drones, choppers, dozens of volunteers and police.
Finocchiaro said the search was a “well-coordinated exercise,” and police were hopeful of locating Sharon “healthy and well.”
“We will not give up,” she said.
“We’re leaving no stone unturned. This is the most heartbreaking thing, we hope to find her today.”
Finocchiaro said Sharon’s disappearance “has really impacted everyone”.
“We’re determined to find her healthy and well,” she said.
“We need to find this little girl and bring her home to her mother.”
On Wednesday morning, NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro issued a stern message to Lewis, who has not been seen since the suspected abduction on Saturday night.
“Hand yourself in,” she told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
“Go to authorities.”
Ex-inmate ‘led little girl away’ from home: cops
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Malley said there was a social gathering taking place at the house at Old Timers Camp, where Lewis was staying at the time.
“We believe Jefferson Lewis has led the little girl away,” he said.
Malley said Lewis – who they believe may have been “under the influence of alcohol” at the time of the alleged abduction – had been released from prison only six days earlier.
Lewis had been serving an 18-month sentence for aggravated assault, breaching a domestic violence order and breaching bail.
His prior offenses also include assaulting police, firearm offences, breaching bail, and traffic and property offenses.
There have been no confirmed sightings of Sharon in the 72 hours since she vanished, but Malley said police believed Sharon was still alive.
“At this stage our number one mission is to find her safe and well,” he told reporters.
“But as you know, as time goes on, the chances of … finding her alive are well reduced.”
Malley said the search for Sharon was “one of the biggest investigations we’ve had going for a while”.
“This is a declared major crime and as such I have got access to all the resources of the Northern Territory Police,” he said.
Sharon was wearing a dark blue short-sleeved T-shirt with a white ring stripe around the neck and cuffs, and a pair of black boxer-style underwear.
