Craven County Sheriff's Office
The FBI has joined in efforts to find a 3-year-old boy from Craven County, North Carolina who went missing on Tuesday afternoon while playing in his grandmother's backyard, local news station WCTI reports. According to Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes, Casey Hathaway was playing with two other children when he vanished at around 1:00 p.m. Tuesday. The grandmother reportedly spent 45 minutes searching for him and then called 911. By Wednesday morning, officials told WCTI there were no new leads despite a 55-65 volunteer search. Hughes told the news station on Wednesday afternoon the volunteer force has grown to around 400-500 people, and that divers were “assessing” the ponds close to the grandmother's home. Authorities have reportedly not ruled out that the boy may have been abducted. Hathaway is described as 2-foot-4, 25 pounds, and has strawberry blonde hair. According to WCTI, he was last seen wearing a “blue coat and dark-colored pants.”