Search continues

 FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine – For the second week, no clues have surfaced in the whereabouts of a three-year-old that was reported missing April 25 from an local apartment building.
    Authorities were notified of the girl’s disappearance around noontime by her mother, Mandy Wright. When emergency personnel arrived on scene, an early search along the Aroostook River – that flows past just a few feet behind the apartment building – turned up first one of the girl’s pink boots, then the other. But despite efforts to locate three-year-old Alexandria Winship-Wright, no more clues were discovered that day.
Searchers since that time have included members of the Maine Warden Service assisted by the Maine State Police, Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle police departments, Fort Fairfield and Limestone fire departments, Maine Marine Patrol, RCMP, U.S. Border Patrol, North Star Search and Rescue and many volunteers.
As the river’s water level drops, teams of searchers continue to scour the area between the apartment building and the Canadian border hoping to find her.
“I was back on the scene Tuesday morning. Patrols from Fort have been working closer to the border. We’ve had a boat in the water every day and walkers are out daily,” said Sgt. Tom Ward of the Maine Warden Service, who’s been overseeing the search since day one.
According to Ward, the search hasn’t been scaled back yet nor are there plans to do so at this point.
“The water has gone down a little bit. When the plane’s available, we’ll fly over the area,” said Ward.
Ward said divers may be called back in at some point but he’s not sure when.
“We have a couple other operations statewide. It’s not going to be my call if we put divers in or not,” he said.
At this point, Ward said there haven’t been any new developments. Cameras were used late last week to look beneath the surface but no new evidence was discovered.
“The cameras turned up nothing. Warden Alan Dudley and John Cote of the Maine State Police searched primarily in the area we believe she went in, but the water was more murky when we used the cameras, so we had no luck that day,” said Ward.
Ward said the search will continue indefinitely but he’s not optimistic the girl will be found alive, since the temperature of the water and weather conditions have been less than favorable recently.
“We’ve had a lot of people ask if we’re giving up. The answer to that is ‘no.’ We’re in a holding pattern right now but will continue to search for Alexandria indefinitely,” said Ward.