Volunteer searches are expected to resume today for missing 5-year-old Destiny Norton, who vanished Sunday night outside her Salt Lake City home.
"I need my baby," Destiny's mother, Rachael Norton said, sobbing. "I miss my daughter."
Search efforts will resume at 7 a.m. at a new command post set up at an LDS stake center at 445 E. Harvard Ave. (1110 South). More than 200 volunteer searchers turned out at Liberty Park Tuesday to pass out fliers and search in alleys, trash bins and bushes for any sign of Destiny.
Meanwhile, Salt Lake City police acknowledged Tuesday they still had no concrete evidence that the girl was kidnapped or that a crime was committed.
"We still don't have any information," Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said. "We are considering this a missing little girl right now. The frustration is the lack of information where she might be."
Rachael Norton told the Deseret Morning News she would go to the Salt Lake City Police Department today to give a DNA sample. She and her husband, Rick Norton, have been questioned repeatedly. They both passed polygraph tests, she said.
"As far as they're concerned, we're not suspects anymore," she said.
More pieces of potential evidence were taken from the Nortons' Central City house, near 700 South and 500 East, Tuesday afternoon.
Norton said the family was in the process of remodeling their basement, so they allowed Destiny to fingerpaint on the wall. Investigators cut out an approximately 2-foot-by-2-foot piece of drywall from the basement that included some of the artwork. Norton said Destiny's palm print was on the wall.
A technician from the Utah State Crime Lab was also seen taking a large pink, rolled-up piece of poster board from the house. There appeared to be more of Destiny's drawings on the poster board.
Police and FBI agents seized four bags of undisclosed items as evidence from a Dumpster behind Destiny's home Monday. That evidence is now being analyzed, police said.
Tuesday, Salt Lake City police closed the command center they had set up in an LDS Church parking lot across the street from the Norton home. Before doing so, detectives took Rachael Norton into her house and explained what was happening.
"They said they're doing all they can and that we'll be in contact with them every day," she said.
As the mobile command truck pulled out of the parking lot, Norton walked away from the house holding Destiny's pink stuffed Doodle Bear. She brought it with her to Liberty Park where other family members had gathered for the search.
Destiny Norton was last seen outside her house about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. When her parents went to check on her 10 minutes later, she was gone.
A 51-year-old Bosnian national was labeled by Salt Lake City police as a "person of interest." Sevkija Ferhatovic, who has a previous arrest for investigation of crimes against children, was questioned by police Monday before being released.
"We don't have anybody that falls into the person-of-interest category," Salt Lake City police detective Joe Cyr told the Deseret Morning News Tuesday. "We are investigating any and all aspects of this case."
Burbank would not comment on possible suspects or who may have been cleared in the case. He noted the family was not under suspicion. FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Tim Fuhrman called the search for Destiny an "intensive investigation."
The family of the missing girl said they believed the police officers were doing their jobs.
At the volunteer search center in Liberty Park, people from all over came to help. At a tent, coordinators sat with computers and maps of the Salt Lake Valley. Boxes of water bottles were stacked nearby.
"The mother sounded pretty desperate," said volunteer Brian Clinger of Orem, who changed his plans after hearing a news report. "I thought if I had a kid I would hope other people would come."
Fliers were handed out with updated pictures of a smiling Destiny showing her bottom row of silver-capped teeth. Large posters with the little girl's face were taped to trees and lampposts. Some searchers wore pink ribbons with "Destiny" handwritten on them.
Shane Siwik, whose daughter was kidnapped but recovered alive in 2002, briefed each volunteer search team.
"We want you to hit every gas station, check any open field. Be respectful of people's property, don't go into their garages. But check Dumpsters, alleys . . . look for any old clothing," he told the group.
Volunteers were given a specific area to search. A map at the command post kept track of the search areas.
"I think the response has been really good," said longtime family friend Jeannie Hill, who helped organize the search parties. "I'll be here until she's found or until her dad tells me to stop."
Sandafer Logan, a K-9 handler with the Cache County Sheriff Department's Search and Rescue unit, has been involved in numerous searches, including high-profile cases such as Elizabeth Smart, Lori Hacking and Garrett Bardsley.
Logan helped develop a grid to search the area from 400 West to 1300 East and from 1500 South to South Temple. There were also special searches of City Creek and Emigration canyons and Memory Grove.
Also lending support at the command post Tuesday morning was Chris Smart, the uncle of Elizabeth Smart, who helped coordinate many of the volunteer search efforts for Elizabeth in 2002.
Both of Norton's parents were at the command post Tuesday. Family members said Rachael, who is eight months pregnant, was supposed to be on bed rest. She said she had already had some premature labor due to the stress of the search.
"I can't just sleep and give up on my kid," she told the Deseret Morning News. "She's my first girl, and I love her very much. I just want her to come home. . . . I want my daughter home any way possible. The more time goes by, the more I'm worried she won't come home."
Smart took Destiny's parents aside to talk to them. "I told them to make sure they give support to one another, devote some time to rest and keep their hopes up," he said.
Outside the Nortons' home overnight, family and friends placed candles on the front walkway in a prayer vigil for Destiny. Cars would pull up and groups of people would get out, grab fliers and head out into the darkness.
Destiny's family released a videotape of the little girl filmed a week ago. She is seen bouncing around the home, waving at the camera and saying hello to her grandparents.
"My name is Dethtiny!" she says on the tape with a beaming smile and speaking through a pair of missing front teeth.
At the LDS Church near Liberty Park, the Salvation Army has set up a trailer to help feed the small army of volunteers expected to arrive today. In addition to searches starting this morning, a call center to receive tips and sightings is also being set up.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com