Associated Press
PUNTA GORDA -- There is a chance a missing 4-year-old girl last seen three weeks ago with her baby sitter is still alive, investigators searching for the girl said Friday.
''We hope she's alive. We have no indication that she isn't at this point,'' said Charlotte County Sheriff's Col. John Davenport. ''We're going with the assumption that she is alive, possibly abducted.''
More than 50 law enforcement officers helped Friday in the search for Pilar Rodriguez, who was last seen with 22-year-old baby sitter Melissa Cooper.
Ms. Cooper told investigators Pilar was the victim of a ''totally senseless'' crime while she and her boyfriend were in Punta Gorda, about 75 miles south of Tampa.
But the baby sitter's statement did not convince investigators that the girl is dead, Davenport said.
Police received several leads after news coverage of the girl's disappearance, sheriff's spokesman Chuck Ellis said.
''There have been some calls saying they've seen the little girl alive,'' Ellis said. He said the tipsters called after seeing Pilar's photograph, but none of the tips had been confirmed.
Ms. Cooper's boyfriend, trucker Keith Allen Wilson, said he hopes the girl is found.
''I want to help them in any way,'' Wilson said. ''But right now they're only looking in one place -- me. And I don't know anything.
''The police questioned me three times and used a warrant to search my truck,'' Wilson said.
Investigators interviewed Ms. Cooper and the girl's father, 29-year-old Marco Rodriguez, but declined to discuss any possible suspects.
Wilson, a Kentucky native who recently moved to Punta Gorda, said that on Feb. 7 he found a nearly unconscious Ms. Cooper alone in a room they were sharing at the Trail Apartments.
''After work I went over to the apartment and found Melissa all groggy and sick,'' said Wilson, who works for a Punta Gorda trucking company. ''I asked Melissa, 'Where is the girl?' And she said, 'Her Dad came and got her.'''
Wilson said he thought that meant the child was in safe hands.
When Rodriguez, of Hollywood, called police to report his daughter missing Monday, he made no mention of ever picking up the child. He said Ms. Cooper was supposed to return with the child on Feb. 14 and had not.
Pilar was supposed to be on a two-week vacation with Ms. Cooper, a diabetic in need of frequent insulin injections. Police found Ms. Cooper visiting relatives in Wisconsin.
She told detectives in Charlotte County where they might find Pilar's body, said Caledonia, Wis., Police Chief Jeffrey Meier.
The search started in the woods near the Trail Apartments in south Punta Gorda on Wednesday and continued by air and on the ground, with the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.
Searchers had found no sign of Pilar as of Friday afternoon.
''At this time, we have no indication that the child has crossed state lines,'' said FBI special agent Dick Keith.
On Thursday, Rodriguez gave no explanation as to why he waited eight days to report his daughter missing.
''I need to do something to help find her -- I can't do nothing,'' Rodriguez said.
The baby sitter flew back to Florida voluntarily Thursday in the company of investigators. Detectives escorted her back to the Punta Gorda apartment and took her testimony.
The girl's father often asked Ms. Cooper to baby-sit while he went out with Ms. Cooper's mother, 42-year-old Deborah Cooper, with whom Rodriguez shared an apartment.
Rodriguez also denied having anything to do with his daughter's disappearance.
Pilar lives with her father, who has been arrested in the past for charges including battery and driving under the influence. Pilar's mother, 30-year-old Pamela Rodriguez, lives in Dayton, Ohio.
The girl's baby sitter met Wilson about a year ago while she was working at an Orangeville, Ky., McDonald's restaurant. Driver's license records show Wilson had a post office box in Olympia, Ky., at least between March 1992 and July 1997.
Wilson said Ms. Cooper came with Pilar from Hollywood to Punta Gorda three times, and they often stayed at the weekly rental apartments.
''On at least two visits I noticed Pilar had bruises on her arms and back,'' Wilson said.
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