As Salt Lake City's mayor pleaded for more volunteers to come out for today's search for Destiny Norton, the missing girl's father stood in the family's background Friday with tears in his eyes.
Ricky Norton reached down and hugged his wife, Rachael, sobbing. He was trying to stay strong. As he hugged Destiny's grandmother, he began shaking. All the pain and the stress of losing his little girl had been taking its toll. Collapsing with emotion, he was led away from the cameras and reporters in the arms of family and friends.
The reward for information leading to the return of 5-year-old Destiny was raised to $30,000 on Friday. It came as her family pleaded for more help searching for the little girl over the Pioneer Day weekend.
"Any information right now would be helpful," Destiny's mother, Rachael Norton, said with tears in her eyes. "We just don't know what happened. We can't find her anywhere. We just want our baby to come home."
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson made his first appearance at the volunteer search center, joining others in making another plea to the public to help search for Destiny.
"This is the most tragic situation a family could face," he said Friday. "We need help from all the community. Our focus should not be on past cases or issues that divide us."
Volunteer searches begin at 6 a.m. today at 445 E. Harvard Ave. (1110 South). Parking is available at Liberty Park.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said investigators had brought approximately 250 people in to police headquarters to be questioned, received 260 tips and had cleared about 70 percent of the leads brought to their attention. Police said one tip even came from a purported psychic in Australia.
The names of several convicted sex offenders currently on parole have been given to police by agents from the Utah Department of Corrections' Adult Probation and Parole.
"We're not going to go into any specifics about the investigation," Salt Lake City police detective Joe Cyr said Friday. "Unless we make an arrest."
Asked if there were any more "persons of interest" investigators were looking at, Cyr told the Deseret Morning News: "Nobody specific."
Next week, Salt Lake City plans to drain the pond in Liberty Park as part of the search.
The FBI has brought in behavioral scientists and profilers to assist in the case. Family members told the Deseret Morning News the FBI has "countless surveillance tapes" they are looking at in connection with reported Destiny sightings.
As of Friday afternoon, however, Burbank said it was still simply a missing child case and there was no specific evidence that pointed either to an abduction or a runaway.
"I wouldn't say that (the case) is cold because our detectives are working night and day," he said.
The search for Destiny is focusing once again in the neighborhoods around her home near 700 South and 500 East, where the little girl was last seen on Sunday evening.
"Everyone feels this area is most important," said Shane Siwik, one of the search organizers. "Just statistically, everything points to working right around" her neighborhood.
Burbank said his department is now joining the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and conducting another grid search in the area between South Temple and 2100 South and between State Street and 1300 East.
The police were notified of a possible trespassing incident involving a local TV station. Family friend Jeannie Hill said a photographer had wandered into the Norton home without permission and filmed Destiny's basement bedroom, which had been torn apart by police and FBI agents. Some things have been removed from the home as evidence in the case, including a chunk of wall that Destiny had fingerpainted.
Salt Lake City police would not comment on whether they were investigating the incident.
As hundreds of people were out searching for Destiny on Friday, her mother Rachael spent some time in a nursery at the volunteer search center.
"It was really good for her. It made her feel better," Hill said. A DVD on "stranger danger" has been seen playing on a TV inside the nursery.
Rachael Norton is 8 1/2 months pregnant and has been battling premature labor pains brought on in part because of the stress of Destiny's disappearance. Hill said that before Destiny vanished, she had named her unborn baby sister "Fate LeeAnn" Norton.
"She deserves to see her sister born," she said.
The Norton family and their closest friends are now wearing pins of angels on their shirts next to bright pink "Destiny" ribbons. They were donated by a local resident.
"Now we all have angels on our shoulders helping us along," said Hill.
After a public plea to put aside stereotypical thoughts about Destiny's family and friends — many of whom have tattoos and piercings — more than 700 people signed up at the volunteer search center on Friday.
James Wright was one of the first to show up to volunteer Friday. He said his wife had seen the news reports about a lack of searchers and told him to go.
Bonnie Hausknecht also participated in the search for the first time Friday.
"I have daughters. I know how devastating it is just when you lose track of (your children) at a grocery store," she said.
The Utah Coalition of La Raza issued a community call to action among Latinos in the state, urging them to come out and join the search effort this weekend. Fliers with Destiny's information have been printed in Spanish.
"As a community we must stand together for our children," La Raza said in a statement. "Every child in this community is our child and responsibility. We must act now!"
Volunteer searches will continue through the Pioneer Day weekend.
Where to go to help out
Volunteer searches begin 6 a.m. at 445 E. Harvard Ave. (1110 South).
E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com