More than two days after she disappeared from her Regina, Saskatchewan home, the search is intensifying for five-year-old Tamra Jewel Keepness.
Tamra, who lives with her mother and five siblings including her twin sister, was last seen in her bedroom at her downtown Regina home around 11 p.m. Monday.
The next morning, she was missing.
After a fruitless search of the neighbourhood, the girl's family contacted police Tuesday afternoon.
Regina police spokeswoman Elisabeth Popowich says the search continues, but "with every hour that goes by, concern starts to mount."
"We don't, at this time, have any evidence that Tamra Keepness has come to any harm, but we don't have any evidence that she's all right. So we have to consider and hold open every possibility," she told reporters Thursday afternoon.
Popowich says police are treating the disappearance as a missing person case, not an abduction.
Yellow police tape has been strung around the little girl's home and police are inside looking for clues. Officers wearing white overalls have been seen going into the house, putting items such as a pair of little girl's shoes into plastic bags.
But police insist the presence of police tape does not mean the home is being treated as a crime scene.
"If, in fact, this comes to a point where we determine that she's come to some harm and it's because of a criminal act, then this location could potentially be the scene of some evidence," Popowich told reporters.
Police say there's no sign of anyone forcing their way into the home.
Tamra's father Troy Keepness says "it's not like her to go off by herself."
Dozens of volunteers from across the province are also helping out with the search, scouring bushes and alleyways for any clues as to the girl's whereabouts.
Tamra vanished just days before the province's Amber Alert system was to be launched. But police say in this case, the alert would not have been used, since there's no evidence Tamra was abducted.
The circumstances of Keepness' disappearance bear haunting similarities to those of Toronto's Cecilia Zhang. It's a coincidence weighing on everyone who knows the missing girl.
"We hope that everything turns out okay," Keepness's aunt, Jamie Fabel told CTV. "We're just hoping for the best."
Described as aboriginal, with bobbed brown hair and brown eyes, Tamra stands at three foot five and weighs approximately 40 pounds.
Police say she may be wearing a light blue striped halter top with pink accents, light blue jeans, and pink and white shoes.
Anyone who has seen the girl, or has any information pertaining to her whereabouts is being asked to contact the Regina Police Service at (306) 777-6500 or call Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
