Northern Territory police have issued a stern warning to community members they believe may be concealing information about the whereabouts of a 47-year-old man wanted in connection with the alleged abduction of a five-year-old Aboriginal girl in Alice Springs.
The young girl, Sharon, was last seen by her mother at 11:30 pm on Saturday. Shortly before her disappearance, she was observed near a man named Jefferson Lewis, who was holding her hand. An arrest warrant for Lewis was issued on Sunday.
On Wednesday, police stated they believe Sharon is still alive. However, they cautioned that if she is wandering alone in the bush, her chances of survival are "right on the threshold."
Assistant Commissioner for Crime and Intelligence, Peter Malley, reported that police have recovered a "number of items" near the house on Marshall Court at the Old Timers camp, where the child was last seen. "We seized a number of items from that crime scene, including a doona cover, the shirt that Jefferson Lewis was wearing – a distinct yellow one – and a pair of child's underwear from that location," Malley told reporters. "These items have now been transported to Darwin and are undergoing forensic analysis, with results expected tomorrow."
Body-worn camera footage of Lewis wearing a yellow shirt, captured by police who responded to an unrelated incident at the camp on Saturday night, has been released to the media.
Sharon was last seen wearing a dark blue short-sleeve T-shirt with a white stripe around the neck and sleeves, and a pair of black boxer-style underwear.
NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole told reporters that police believe Lewis is receiving assistance from people he knows. "We absolutely, firmly believe that there are members of the community who know where he is, where he went, and how to contact him," Dole said. "We implore those people to come forward and give us that information. We will follow up every single piece of information we receive. The smallest detail could be the one that unlocks this investigation."
Malley described the search for Lewis as "like going back to the 1930s." "This man doesn't have a telephone, a bank account, or a car," he said. "So some of the usual practices we use in 2025 aren't applicable, hence the number of resources we have on the ground. We're knocking on doors, going through houses – it's old-school policing. It's a hard slog. Any place he's frequented, we've been there. He has had an ankle monitor in the past, and that is also being looked at, revealing many places of interest. Anywhere he's frequented, we've been, and we'll continue to go until we get him."
Malley said police have also spoken to Lewis's family in Yuendumu and sought assistance from Western Australia police, who visited the East Kimberley community of Balgo, where Lewis also has family. "We still think he's here [in Alice Springs]," he said. "But like I said, I've been wrong before, and we're considering everything."
The search for Sharon has covered 5 square kilometres on foot and 80 square kilometres by car and air, Malley said. Seventy people were searching on Tuesday, and 100 on Wednesday, along with hundreds of volunteers. "We speak to survival experts and look at if she was wandering alone in the bush, how long she could survive. We're still within that timeframe," he said. "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."
As of Wednesday afternoon, there had been no confirmed sightings of either Sharon or Lewis. Anyone with information is asked to contact police directly. "This is the number one priority of Northern Territory police," Malley said. "We have so many resources in Alice Springs, we'll get to you pretty quick."
The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, travelled to Alice Springs to offer her support. "My message to little Sharon is that we're all here for you, and we certainly hope we can find you," the Northern Territory senator told ABC Alice Springs on Wednesday. "And my message to Sharon's family is that we are certainly here with you. Our hearts, our love, and our prayers and thoughts are with you."
McCarthy said the support from the broader community has been "overwhelming." The local IGA supermarket and a local bakery have donated food to those undertaking the search effort, while others have donated water. "It's quite overwhelming really; I'm deeply touched to see the effort that's taking place here, as it should," she said. "It's really beautiful when community can come together … I thank the people of Alice Springs for doing that."
