Sara Anne Wood vanished more than four months ago while riding her bicycle home from the church where her father is pastor.
Nevertheless, there are presents for the 12-year-old under her family's tree this Christmas."I believe in miracles," her father, Bob Wood, said this week. "If she walks through that door between now and Christmas, I want her to know we never stopped planning for her return. I want her to know we never gave up hope."
The 5-foot brown-haired girl disappeared Aug. 18 not far from Norwich Corners Presbyterian Church, and state police say she was abducted. Her bike was found in a ditch by the road, some papers and crayons scattered nearby.
Despite a huge search by police and volunteers, there has been no other trace of her.
For the Woods, the arrival of the holidays has made them feel their loss even more keenly.
"She was very much our Christmas child. She would be the one most excited about the tree decorations. She would be the first one up Christmas morning," her father said. "I have a cassette of her from last year when she started singing on Dec. 1 and sang a Christmas song every day until Christmas."
During the search, Wood, his wife, Frances, and their two other children have tried to focus on the biblical essence of Christmas: that it brought a child of light into the world to vanquish the darkness.
"I have faith that this darkness will be pushed back by the light," Wood said.
The search has been played out since August against the tragic backdrop of similar searches for missing girls in California, Massachusetts and Missouri. In each of those cases, girls about Sara's age were discovered slain.
"God forbid that other children get grabbed," Wood said. "It's happening too many times around the country."