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Red Springs, N.C. – In the time of sadness and bread for a St. Andrews Catholic Church in Red Springs, a source of refuge and strength.
Hania Aguilar, 13, was abducted outside her Lumberton mobile home Monday morning.
Fridays at the church. Fridays at the church. Aguilar is also a member of the class that meets Wednesdays.
The eighth-grader at Lumberton Junior High School was last seen on Monday morning, in the Rosewood Mobile Home Park, at 3525 E. Elizabethtown Road. Authorities say she was abducted by a man dressed in black with a yellow bandana over his face. He grabbed Aguilar and drove off in his aunt's SUV.
Churchgoers on Friday said they felt her absence and missed her presence.
"Hearing from her classmates on Wednesday that it's not the same without her, it's hurting them," parishioner Raul Alvarado said.
Investigators released new pictures of Aguilar Friday night, showing her smiling and posing.
Members of her church family were not just praying for her safe return, they said, but also that the fear of growing within the community will subside.
"I have my granddaughter, and she's scared," said Sylvia Crovetto, a leading prayer group.
The congregation has many girls Aguilar's age.
"When I think about her, I do not know how she's feeling," Crovetto said. "We are mothers, and we're thinking, this can be my daughter. It's really hard. "
During a conference on Friday, Lumberton Chief Police Michael McNeill said it breaks his heart that they have not found Hania yet.
He pleaded for help from neighbors.
"Now, we're asking anyone who lives within a mile of your own way to check your own property." "You know them better than we do," he said.
The FBI is offering a $ 15,000 reward for leading information to Hania. On Friday, the governor's office is an additional $ 5,000.
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