missing children

Local and federal law-enforcement officials are asking for help in identifying the young girl in the accompanying photo as part of an on-going investigation.

Investigators believe the girl was 4- to 6-years-old at the time the picture was taken, which appears to have been about August 2006. The girl has light brown hair and blue eyes. She may be in the Portland, Seattle or Tacoma areas or have ties to those areas.

Anyone with information is asked immediately to call the FBI at 503-224-4181; the Portland Police Bureau at 503-823-0249; or Immigration and Customs Enforcement at 503-326-4081.

Beth Anne Steele, spokeswoman for the FBI in Portland, said she could reveal little about the case other than to say it is of a sensitive nature and that officials are concerned about the girl’s welfare.

She said authorities don’t know where the girl is from, but believe the photo was probably taken in the Portland or Seattle-Tacoma area.

The FBI announced today that the young girl whose identity was being sought by local and federal law-enforcement officials on Tuesday has been found and is safe.

Beth Anne Steele, spokeswoman for the FBI in Portland, sent out a news release shortly after noon today, saying that the girl, who had been described as 4 to 6 years old, is safe with a family in the Northwest.

Steele acknowledged that authorities have been vague about why they were interested in the young girl’s whereabouts, “but I can assure you that that is in the girl’s best interest,” she said.