Created: 10/19/2009 8:34:10 PM 
ORANGE PARK, FL -- Officials will continue to search through the night in the air on the ground, in the water and using horses to find 7-year-old Somer Thompson who disappeared on her way home from school Monday afternoon.
Clay County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Dan Mahla said at a news conference this evening that 200 leads had been called in as of 5:45 p.m. But right now, police have no person of interest and no physical evidence in the case.
"We suspect foul play," Mahla said, adding that right now Somer is considered an endangered child because she did not come home last night, and because of her age, size and the low temperatures last night.
An Amber Alert was issued for Somer this morning. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler says this is the longest a child has been missing in Clay County in 22 years. She was last seen at 2:45 p.m. walking home from school near West Gano and Debarry avenues. [Map it]
Police are using dive teams to search a retention pond and a small lake in the area, and are in the process of interviewing sex offenders living in the neighborhood, Mahla said. "We are searching anything and everything we possibly can...we're just gonna keep trying."
Mahla offered a timeline of Somer's activities right before she disappeared Monday. She left school at 2:50 and met up with her two siblings to walk home. The two arrived home at 3:15 to find Somer not there even though she had run ahead of them. Around 5 p.m., Mahla said, Somer's mother flagged down a deputy to report her missing.
Tuesday morning, Beseler said the agency has some "very good leads coming in" and had 50 tips by 9 a.m.
The sheriff also asked for information about a blue sedan seen in the neighborhood 10 days ago. Authorities say the occupants, two men and a woman, tried to lure a young girl into the car.
Beseler said the incident happened within a block of where Somer was last seen Monday afternoon. He said that right now there is "no reason to believe that is connected to Somer."
The search area was expanded to three miles early this morning, and just before 11 this morning, law enforcement expanded the search to a 5-mile radius. Beseler said there is "no indication" this is an abduction; he also said Somer does not have a history of running away.
Within that radius, according to the sheriff's office, are 87 sex offenders, and each is being checked out.
Deputies want people to search everywhere around their homes for the missing girl. In fact, they say several groups organized on their own and helped with the search Tuesday.
Scores of volunteers jumped into action in the neighborhood Tuesday. Somer's family has lived there for four years.
Jill Harris made the intersection of Gano and Debarry avenues her headquarters for the day, passing out flyers to get the word out about the missing girl.
"I live down the street. I have small children, and that's the only thing. I cannot sit around and let nothing happen, so I am doing what I can," says Harris.
Harris was hardly alone in her effort to search for the missing girl.
Mary Bartlett, just out of the hospital, grabbed her four-legged friend, the family dog, to search a neighborhood park.
"There's a grandmother out there worried to death, a mother, father, sister and brothers," says Bartlett, who also said she had to do something.
Thompson is a second-grader at Grove Park Elementary, which remained open today. Police say she is a white female, 3-feet-5 inches tall and about 65 pounds. She has a birthmark on her lower right leg, brown hair and was last seen wearing a cranberry-colored sweatsuit with a longsleeved black undershirt under it. She has no known health problems, Beseler said.
Beseler said Somer got into an argument with another child at school Monday, but is not saying the argument was connected to her disappearance. After school, she was with her sister and friends, but separated from them, running ahead toward her home.
"Her mother began looking for her, and after about two hours, [she] flagged down a patrol car and reported that Somer did not come home this (Monday) afternoon," said Beseler.
The sheriff says they have checked with immediate family members, including the girl's father, who lives in North Carolina.
"We would ask that the public assist us in providing any information that anyone may have about this little girl's whereabouts...she has been missing for about seven hours now," said Beseler late Monday.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, FBI, Orange Park Police Department, Fish and Wildlife, Department of Transportation, St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and canine units from various departments are participating in the search.
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Anyone with information on Somer is asked to call 911, the CCSO non-emergency line at (904) 264-6512, 1-877-227-6911 or 1-866-845-TIPS. You also can email cart@claysheriff.com.
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