DAYVILLE - Clover Court, in the Dayville section of Killingly, was swarmed by State Police Wednesday as the search for a missing 13 year old intensified.
Abaynesh “Abby” May, all 5’1” and 90 pounds of her, was last seen by her parents Sunday evening. Her father told police she must have left the house through a window sometime between 8 PM Sunday and 4 AM Monday
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children it’s believed Abby got into an unknown vehicle. And the organization says police brought in search dogs, but they lost her scent on a nearby road.
Troop D Major Crimes Squad, K9’s and Search and Rescue teams, including the Trooper 1 helicopter were focused on the Clover Court area all afternoon, exhausting all investigative efforts to locate the teen, who was adopted by her family from Ethiopia.
“It was weird waking up going to work at 5:30 AM on Monday morning and the entire neighborhood was lit up,” said Michael Wetherell, who lives next door to the May family.
From 1 PM until approximately 5:30 PM, the neighborhood was watching State Police enter and exit the May’s home. And they family was not permitted to reenter their home until police were done processing it.
“It’s just scary,” said Deborah Harrison, a resident of Clover Court.
“Too close to home,” said her husband, Eric Harrison.
This couple, who lives several houses from the Mays, also has a 13-year-old daughter.
“It’s kind of shocking just to see her go missing and they can’t find her,” said 13 year old Julia Harrison. “It’s kind of scary because I don’t want this to happen to me.”
Julia says she’s sad because she has never really been able to connect with Abby May.
“When I’m around, I like hang out with kids and when I asked her to hang out she didn’t talk to anyone that much and she was working outside and there was really nothing for me to do about it.”
Abby working outside, around the house, was something many of the neighbors noticed.
One neighbor told Fox 61 that he and other neighbors have called police, expressing a concern for the well-being of Abby May, over the past couple of years. They say it seemed odd that such a young child was the one, who was always mowing the grass, doing other yard work, shoveling the driveway and washing the outside of the house.
“I just hope she’s OK wherever she is and hope they can find her,” Eric Harrison said.
The neighbors are doing what they can to help
“On all platforms of social media, we’ve been sharing all of the information,” said Wetherell. “I mean at our places of work there’s posters up. All over town there’s posters so we’re just hoping for the best.”
State Police say that Major Crimes units typically don’t enter a missing persons case until they’ve been missing for 30 days. But, because this missing person is just 13, there is an urgency.
If you have any information, please call 911 or National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or Connecticut State Police at 1-800-779-4900.
