08-29-2006, 05:42 AM
(08-28) 15:16 PDT -- Police continue to search for a 5-month-old girl who reportedly disappeared from her father's car Sunday evening in San Francisco's Mission District when he went into a liquor store to buy a pack of cigarettes.
The girl's 24-year-old father, Anthony Demone Theard, told the Chronicle he parked his car near the intersection of 18th and Mission streets at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. He said he left his daughter, Camille, in the car for just three minutes -- and that he noticed she was gone after driving his car a few yards.
"I felt like it was all like a dream or something, like it wasn't real," he said. "I couldn't believe that it had happened. I didn't want to believe that it was happening."
Police said Theard's car had a window broken out of it before he parked it in the Mission.
Theard said that upon noticing his daughter was missing, he immediately turned around and asked people standing near the store if they'd seen anything, but they hadn't. A worker in the store called police, and they've been searching for the girl ever since. Police have now involved search and rescue dogs.
Theard has a criminal record for pimping and pandering and admitted to police that he'd been at 24th and Mission streets earlier Sunday evening looking for crack cocaine, but was unsuccessful in finding it. He told the Chronicle that none of that should have any bearing on the search for his daughter.
"That has nothing to do with why my daughter is missing," he said.
The girl's mother, Leidi Ferguson, 20, said, "Whoever has my baby, just bring her back. That's all."
The girl, who weighs 15 pounds and has a full head of hair and dimples, was last seen wearing a pink dress.
Anyone with information is asked to contact San Francisco police at (415) 558-5508 or (415) 553-1071.
The girl's 24-year-old father, Anthony Demone Theard, told the Chronicle he parked his car near the intersection of 18th and Mission streets at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. He said he left his daughter, Camille, in the car for just three minutes -- and that he noticed she was gone after driving his car a few yards.
"I felt like it was all like a dream or something, like it wasn't real," he said. "I couldn't believe that it had happened. I didn't want to believe that it was happening."
Police said Theard's car had a window broken out of it before he parked it in the Mission.
Theard said that upon noticing his daughter was missing, he immediately turned around and asked people standing near the store if they'd seen anything, but they hadn't. A worker in the store called police, and they've been searching for the girl ever since. Police have now involved search and rescue dogs.
Theard has a criminal record for pimping and pandering and admitted to police that he'd been at 24th and Mission streets earlier Sunday evening looking for crack cocaine, but was unsuccessful in finding it. He told the Chronicle that none of that should have any bearing on the search for his daughter.
"That has nothing to do with why my daughter is missing," he said.
The girl's mother, Leidi Ferguson, 20, said, "Whoever has my baby, just bring her back. That's all."
The girl, who weighs 15 pounds and has a full head of hair and dimples, was last seen wearing a pink dress.
Anyone with information is asked to contact San Francisco police at (415) 558-5508 or (415) 553-1071.