Australia SHARON GRANITES: Missing from Old Timers, Alice Springs, NT - 25 April 2026 - Age 5 *Found Deceased* (11 Viewers)

Australian police believe missing 5-year-old girl was abducted - UPI.com

A 5-year-old girl who went missing from a central Australian Indigenous community over the weekend was abducted, authorities said Monday.

www.upi.com

Australian police believe missing 5-year-old girl was abducted​

A 5-year-old girl who went missing from a central Australian Indigenous community over the weekend was abducted, authorities said Monday, as they search for a 47-year-old man who they believe may be connected.

Sharon Granites was reported missing from her residence in Old Timers, an Aboriginal town camp in Alice Springs, located in Australia's Northern Territory, at about 1:35 a.m. local time Sunday, according to a statement from the Northern Territory Police Force.

She was last seen at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday wearing a dark blue short-sleeve T-shirt with white stripes around the neck and sleeve hemlines and a pair of black boxer-style underwear.

Northern Territory Police Acting Commander Mark Grieve told reporters at a press conference that they believe Sharon was abducted and that officers are seeking to speak with Jefferson Lewis, "who may be able to provide us with some information in regards to that."

Grieve said Lewis had been in and around Sharon's residence on Saturday, is one of the few people who were in Old Timers who have not made themselves known to police and is believed to have gone missing at around the same time as the little girl.

Grieve stopped short of accusing Lewis of being involved in Sharon's disappearance, saying police wanted to speak with him because he and Sharon appeared to have disappeared around the same time.

"Considering himself and Sharon went missing at around about the same time, it certainly brings about those suspicious circumstances and we'd like to speak to him about that," he said.

Lewis was recently released from prison and has a criminal history that includes physical assault and domestic violence, Grieve said, adding that no offenses were related to child endangerment.

Drones, dogs, horses, ATVs, motorcycles and ground patrols were among the assets police deployed in the search for Sharon, he said, stating they are calling on members of the public with information on either Sharon or Lewis' location to contact authorities immediately.

"Obviously, it's a terrible situation to have such a young child go missing," he said. "We're just over 24 hours now, so it would certainly be my worst nightmare as a parent."


MEDIA: SHARON GRANITES was ABDUCTED from Old Timers, Alice Springs, NT, Australia on 25 April 2026 by a man who is 47 years old!

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

'Worst nightmare': Fears for five-year-old Sharon as manhunt intensifies

Five-year-old Sharon Granites was last seen in her Alice Springs home early Sunday morning.

www.sbs.com.au

'Worst nightmare': Fears for five-year-old Sharon as manhunt intensifies​

An outback hunt is under way for a man suspected of abducting a girl as a desperate search for the missing five-year-old intensifies.

Police are trying to locate recently released prisoner Jefferson Lewis, 47, after Sharon Granites disappeared near Alice Springs early on Sunday morning.

The little girl was reported missing from her Old Timers Aboriginal town camp residence about 1:30am on Sunday after being put to bed.

Mr Lewis had been staying at the home where Sharon lived and went missing at the same time, police said.

"We do believe Sharon has been abducted," Acting Commander Mark Grieve said in Darwin on Monday.

The isolated community has been urged to come forward with any information they have as support is thrown behind Sharon's family.

The suspected abduction was "every parent's worst nightmare", Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said.

"To her family — our thoughts are with you," she posted on Facebook on Monday.

"To the community - this is the moment to step up. Someone knows something.

"Let's help bring her home."

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Search for missing 5yo enters third day as helicopters, heat drones deployed

Helicopters, heat sensor drones and dozens of people combing through thick scrubland have been deployed in the increasingly desperate search to find missing five-year-old girl Sharon Granites.

www.abc.net.au

Search for missing 5yo girl Sharon Granites enters third day in Alice Springs​

Three days since Sharon Granites disappeared from an Alice Springs town camp, police are continuing to cover a vast area of land with helicopters, horses and drones as they search for some signs of the five-year-old.

Sharon went missing at around 11:30pm on Saturday, with Northern Territory Police on Monday saying they believe she has been abducted by a recently released prisoner, 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis.

Mr Lewis was recently released from prison after serving an 18-month sentence for serious violence-related offences, and is now also the subject of the wide-scale police manhunt.

The search began late on Saturday night, after Sharon's family realised she had gone missing from her home in the Old Timers camp — a house in which police confirmed Mr Lewis was also staying.

Members of the community starting conducting searches for Sharon, but were unable to find her.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, when police were alerted to her disappearance, doorknocks and further searches by officers were conducted in and around the community.

Over Sunday and Monday, the air search for Sharon covered around 46 square kilometres, while the foot search area has encompassed around 20 square kilometres, much of which is covered by thick scrubland and rough terrain.

As well as two helicopters, the search for Sharon has used heat sensor drones and dozens of emergency services and non-government organisation workers joining forces for ground searches.

Sergeant Matt Hall said the search had so far been "slow going" due to the environment.

"It is a vast search area that we are looking at and going through methodically," he told ABC Radio Darwin.

"The area's heavily overgrown with buffel grass, so in some areas it's shoulder-to-shoulder search pattern through that area.

As well as NT Police, NT Fire and Rescue has been assisting in the searches, as well as Alice Springs-based organisations including Tangentyere Council and Purple House.

Tangentyere Council president Maxine Carlton said about 36 of their staff had taken part in foot patrols.

"We've also reached out to other Aboriginal organisations to assist in this search," she said.

Tangentyere Council is also helping to support Sharon's family and other Old Timers community members as they deal with the stress and trauma of the circumstances.

"This is a very distressing time for all families," Ms Carlton said.

She said that while police had been doing exceptional work in the search, the wider community should have been notified "within an hour" after Sharon went missing.

"Alice Springs should've been in a lockdown [by Sunday morning]," she said.

"But we would like to thank the police, and the SES, they doing a really fantastic job.

"We hope there's good news in the near future."

Sergeant Hall said the wider Alice Springs community could help by keeping their eyes open.

"The biggest thing the community can do at this stage is [be the] eyes and ears," he said.

"Anything they see, anything they hear, no matter how minor they think it might be, it could be that relevant small bit of information which could … lead us to successfully locating young Sharon."

 

[Mel70]

Wonderful. Violent released criminal. Of course it was him.

 

[Kimster]

What a sweet little girl and he looks like a monster! Oh, the poor little baby. I pray and pray that they find her safe and soon.

 

[Mel70]

What a sweet little girl and he looks like a monster! Oh, the poor little baby. I pray and pray that they find her safe and soon.

He does look scary.

 

[Guess Who]

Suspect in NT girl abduction released from jail last week

Police allege a man was seen holding hands with a five-year-old girl just hours before she vanished from a home in Alice Springs.

thenightly.com.au

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Suspect in NT girl abduction released from jail last week

Police allege a man was seen holding hands with a five-year-old girl just hours before she vanished from a home in Alice Springs.

thenightly.com.au

Police believe missing five-year-old Sharon Granites was lured away from Alice Springs town camp​

Police allege a 47-year-old man was seen holding hands with a five-year-old girl just hours before she vanished from a home in Alice Springs.

Northern Territory Police are desperately searching for Sharon Granites and 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who was released from jail last week. Police believe the pair are still together.
On Tuesday, NT Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley revealed Sharon’s disappearance has been declared a major crime.

Sharon and her mother were visiting Old Timers camp, where Lewis was staying, on Saturday night to “do some washing” when the little girl disappeared.

Sharon was reportedly put to bed inside a home on Marshall Court at 11.30pm before her mother reported her missing at 1.35am on Sunday.

Mr Malley said police quickly established that both Sharon and Lewis were missing.

“I don’t know whether it was (reported during) the same call, but after police got there … it was very quickly relayed to us that Jefferson Lewis was also missing,” he said.

“I think he was last seen with the little girl, holding hands, at around about 11 o’clock at night.”

Mr Malley said there had been “a bit of a party” and “a very social occasion going on” at the time.

“There was alcohol being consumed at the camp at the time,” he said.

Police allege the little girl was led away to an area behind Old Timers camp.

“We believe Jefferson Lewis has taken the little girl away to that crime scene that we have taped off,” Mr Malley said.

“We’ve located items of interest within that area.”

He refused to reveal what those items were.

By 9pm Sunday, an internal police broadcast had been distributed for Lewis’ arrest.

“We don’t need a warrant. We have an arrest power for him,” Mr Malley said.

Police remain confident Lewis and the missing girl are together, still in Central Australia and have not left the Territory.

“We don’t believe he has access to a vehicle, but that’s not to say that somebody’s not driving him around,” Mr Malley said.

“We’ve had some information where Jefferson might have been sighted, but we’re unable to confirm that it was actually him at this stage.

“We believe he’s still in Central Australia somewhere – potentially within that 20km search radius.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://www.news.com.au/national/northern-territory/exinmate-wanted-over-suspected-abduction-of-sharon-5-as-search-enters-third-day/news-story/118ed27debb8fb3591e0a3d23b2c9cf1

Clothing believed to belong to ex-inmate sent for testing as desperate search for missing 5yo enters third day​

Police have sent clothing believed to belong to a recently-released prison inmate for forensic testing as part of their desperate search for a five-year-old girl believed to have been snatched from her home.

Police believe 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis – who they said was at the house at the time – may have abducted the five-year-old.

Clothing believed to belong to Lewis and other items have been removed from the crime scene and officers are waiting on analysis results.

Sources say Sharon was seen walking hand in hand with Lewis.


It is believed he was heavily intoxicated at the time of the girl’s disappearance.

The little girl’s mum put her to bed at 11.30pm and reported her missing two hours later - she was taken from her bed.


Commissioner Malley said Mr Lewis had a “loose connection to the family” and was released from prison six days earlier.


A crime scene has been established near the camp where the little girl went missing, with part of the area cordoned off with police tape.

“We believe Jefferson Lewis has led the little girl away to that crime scene that we have taped off,” he said.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Still alive: police hold on to hope girl will be found

A desperate search for a missing girl and her suspected abductor has gained national attention, with the prime...

www.theleader.com.au

Still alive: police hold on to hope girl will be found​

An outback search for a five-year-old and her suspected abductor is ramping up as authorities believe the missing girl is still alive.


Police have released body worn camera images of Mr Lewis captured on the night.

 

[Kimster]

Suspect in NT girl abduction released from jail last week

Police allege a man was seen holding hands with a five-year-old girl just hours before she vanished from a home in Alice Springs.

thenightly.com.au

I didn't see that it said why he had been in jail?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I didn't see that it said why he had been in jail?

Suspect in NT girl abduction released from jail last week

Police allege a man was seen holding hands with a five-year-old girl just hours before she vanished from a home in Alice Springs.

thenightly.com.au

Mr Lewis, from Lajamanu, was released from prison six days before Sharon went missing.

He had been serving multiple jail sentences for offences including aggravated assault, breaching a domestic violence order, resisting police and breaching bail.

Criminal history of man police are searching for over missing 5yo girl revealed

A man being sought in connection with the alleged abduction of five-year-old Sharon Granites near Alice Springs has a long history of violence and prison time in the Northern Territory.

www.abc.net.au

A 47-year-old man being sought in connection with the alleged abduction of five-year-old Sharon Granites has a long history of violence and prison time in the Northern Territory, the ABC can confirm.

The ABC has confirmed that over the past decade, Mr Lewis has been sentenced to more than five years in prison, for separate, serious violence-related offences.

Most recently, he served an 18-month sentence after he pleaded guilty in October 2024 to aggravated assault, engaging in conduct that contravened a domestic violence order, and breaching bail.

While already in prison, he was sentenced to a further three months for another count of engaging in conduct that contravened a domestic violence order, and for resisting police.

Earlier on, in 2022, he was sentenced to 11 months on separate aggravated assault charges, for which he served eight months and was then released on a good behaviour bond.

In 2018, Mr Lewis was sentenced to 19 months in prison, with a non-parole period of 14 months, on four counts including two charges of aggravated assault.

In 2016, he was sentenced to 12 months behind bars after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.

The ABC was unable to verify Mr Lewis's criminal history earlier than that date.

The charges faced by Mr Lewis over the past decade do not appear to relate directly to dealings with children.

 

[Kimster]

Suspect in NT girl abduction released from jail last week

Police allege a man was seen holding hands with a five-year-old girl just hours before she vanished from a home in Alice Springs.

thenightly.com.au

Mr Lewis, from Lajamanu, was released from prison six days before Sharon went missing.

He had been serving multiple jail sentences for offences including aggravated assault, breaching a domestic violence order, resisting police and breaching bail.

Criminal history of man police are searching for over missing 5yo girl revealed

A man being sought in connection with the alleged abduction of five-year-old Sharon Granites near Alice Springs has a long history of violence and prison time in the Northern Territory.

www.abc.net.au

A 47-year-old man being sought in connection with the alleged abduction of five-year-old Sharon Granites has a long history of violence and prison time in the Northern Territory, the ABC can confirm.

The ABC has confirmed that over the past decade, Mr Lewis has been sentenced to more than five years in prison, for separate, serious violence-related offences.

Most recently, he served an 18-month sentence after he pleaded guilty in October 2024 to aggravated assault, engaging in conduct that contravened a domestic violence order, and breaching bail.

While already in prison, he was sentenced to a further three months for another count of engaging in conduct that contravened a domestic violence order, and for resisting police.

Earlier on, in 2022, he was sentenced to 11 months on separate aggravated assault charges, for which he served eight months and was then released on a good behaviour bond.

In 2018, Mr Lewis was sentenced to 19 months in prison, with a non-parole period of 14 months, on four counts including two charges of aggravated assault.

In 2016, he was sentenced to 12 months behind bars after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.

The ABC was unable to verify Mr Lewis's criminal history earlier than that date.

The charges faced by Mr Lewis over the past decade do not appear to relate directly to dealings with children.

So, he likely didn't have an order to stay away from minors. I have no idea if they do that in Australia, but I'll bet they do.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

What we know about the hours before a 5yo girl went missing in Alice Springs

Five-year-old Sharon Granites vanished from an Alice Springs town camp late on Saturday night, with police alleging she has been abducted. Here's what we know about the night she went missing.

www.abc.net.au

What we know about the night 5yo girl Sharon Granites went missing in Alice Springs​

Saturday was a warm autumn day in Alice Springs, when Sharon and her mother visited a home at the Old Timers / Ilyperenye Aboriginal camp on the outskirts of the regional town.

The town camp is a small community, with only nine households and about 40 residents, which is maintained by the local Aboriginal corporation Tangentyere Council.


Police say Sharon and her mother were visiting the home of some people they knew well, to do some Saturday laundry.

As the evening went on, police say a party was held at the house for a "social occasion", with several people in attendance.

One of those people was Jefferson Lewis, a 47-year-old man who was staying at the home at Old Timers after having been released from prison six days prior.

At some point that night, police say they visited the town camp for an unrelated incident and captured footage of Mr Lewis on officers' body-worn cameras.

The grainy photos from that night's footage show Mr Lewis wearing a bright yellow shirt and a grey and yellow cap.

Police say their interaction with Mr Lewis that night was "fortuitous" and that "no offence" had occurred at that time, with police leaving the location shortly after.


But at 11pm that night, police say Mr Lewis was seen by those in the area for the last time, and he was with a little girl believed to be Sharon.

"He was last seen with the little girl holding hands," police said on Tuesday.

Just before 11:30pm, Sharon was put into bed by family at the house that she and her mother were visiting. She was wearing a dark blue short-sleeved T-shirt with a white ring stripe around the neck and cuffs and a pair of black boxer-style underwear.

That was the last time anyone saw her.

A little later, Sharon's mother went to check on her little girl in the bedroom she was sleeping in and found that she had vanished.

At 1:30am, the distraught mother called NT Police and reported Sharon missing.

 

[Guess Who]

Last seen holding hands with him and walking away at about 11 but Mom put her to bed at 1130?

 

[Kimster]

Last seen holding hands with him and walking away at about 11 but Mom put her to bed at 1130?

I’ve had to read that a couple of times and I think what they’re saying is that the last time he saw him, he was holding her hand. I’m assuming that he then left (as far as anyone else knew ) and then they put the little girl to bed. It was at that time he came back and secretly grabbed her. That’s what I’m taking it anyway.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

'Only a little baby': Family of missing 5yo Sharon Granites speaks

Family members of a missing Alice Springs five-year-old have spoken to the ABC for the first time, pleading for anyone with information that could help find their "energetic" little girl to come forward.

www.abc.net.au

Missing girl Sharon Granites's family urges anyone with information to come forward​

Family members of a missing five-year-old believed to have been abducted in Alice Springs have spoken to the ABC for the first time, pleading for anyone with information that could help find their "energetic" little girl to come forward.


Sitting outside the house in Old Timers town camp where Sharon was allegedly abducted from, her kinship grandfather Robin Japanangka Granites wept and called for her safe return.

"A very terrible thing, a horrible thing, and we wanted to try and see if we can get her back, but we can't," he said.

"[We've been] crying, crying, and doing what we meant to be doing, and being out there with our family crying… and that's not what we want, we want to be going out and searching for her."

Family members have told the ABC that Sharon is unable to talk and communicates mostly through hand gestures.

Her great-uncle Rob Roy, who lives in the remote NT community of Kalkirindji, said he was urging anyone with information to come forward.

He said Sharon and some of her family had visited him not long ago, and described her as "very energetic".

He said he remembered how five-year-old Sharon had sung during her last visit, by babbling along to music.

"I know for sure she's one of those girls that likes her TikTok or YouTube.

"If you give her a little iPad or phone, she'll just sit one place and not move because she's being entertained by what she's watching."

Bess Nungarrayi Price, a Warlpiri Alice Springs community leader and a member of the little girl's extended family, said Sharon's mother and grandmothers were distraught.

"We are hoping, the family's hoping, that she's still alive, and hopefully they can return her to her grandmothers, and her mother," she said.

Ms Price, who is also a former NT government child protection minister, said the family was appealing directly to Mr Lewis — a recently released prisoner — to provide them with any information he may have about where Sharon is.

"The family really want the man to be brought in so they can question him as to whether he's been involved or not," Ms Nungarrayi Price said.

"It is important that they do, or he surrenders himself to the police or to somebody, and just gives us some information at least as to where the girl might be.

"What the family are saying is we want to ask him, or for him to tell whoever he's been staying with, if she's safe and where they can find her, if he has got her."

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I’ve had to read that a couple of times and I think what they’re saying is that the last time he saw him, he was holding her hand. I’m assuming that he then left (as far as anyone else knew ) and then they put the little girl to bed. It was at that time he came back and secretly grabbed her. That’s what I’m taking it anyway.

That's how I took it too.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/police-search-for-5yearold-girl-reported-missing-in-alice-springs/news-story/de28539e64d0f9a4e94e01f605997399

Among the items found at the site behind the Old Timers camp were a doona, a distinctive yellow shirt that 47-year-old Mr Lewis had been wearing and a pair of children’s underwear.

 

[Guess Who]

https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/police-search-for-5yearold-girl-reported-missing-in-alice-springs/news-story/de28539e64d0f9a4e94e01f605997399

Among the items found at the site behind the Old Timers camp were a doona, a distinctive yellow shirt that 47-year-old Mr Lewis had been wearing and a pair of children’s underwear.

A doona is a stroller/carseat combo.