This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 1:28:07 PM- Salt Lake City police have canceled an Amber Alert but are still actively searching for a 5-year-old girl missing from her home at 721 South and 500 East since last night.
An Amber Alert was issued Monday morning for Destiny Norton, who got into an argument with her family Sunday night and then stormed out of the home, according to police spokeswoman Robin Snyder.
Family members began looking for the girl a few minutes later, but could not find her, Snyder said.
A "person of interest" was located Sunday night and questioned and released, Snyder said. Monday morning, however, police wanted to talk to Sevkija Ferhatovic again. He voluntarily showed up at the police station about 10 a.m.. Police were not saying if Ferhatovic - who was charged with felony sex crimes in 2002 but acquitted by a jury - had anything to do with the girl's disappearance. Because Ferhatovic was detained, however, the Amber Alert was canceled.
Early Monday, police evacuated the Norton's multi-plex and cordoned off the area with yellow police tape, allowing officers and a bloodhound to walk through the units. Neighbors said police also canvassed the multi-plex, as well as nearby homes, several times Sunday night looking for the child.
A next-door neighbor, Connie Brown, said her three boys played with Destiny two different times Sunday. But it wasn't until the girl's parents, Ricky and Rachael Norton, came looking for their daughter about 7:30 p.m. that she realized Destiny was missing.
"The dad was freaking out. He was looking everywhere," she said.
Police were notified at 8:41 p.m., Snyder said.
Robert Green, another neighbor, said Destiny would often play with his pitbull. He described the girl as "very intuitive, very sharp."
Green, who stayed up all night with the Nortons, said it isn't like Destiny to run away.
"She's not the type to wander off alone," he said.
Destiny's grandparents, Mark Flores and Leslie Borchardt, said when the Nortons realized Destiny was missing they called 911 and their bishop for help.
Liberty 2nd Ward Bishop William Silver, also a Salt Lake City detective working on the case, said he helped organize ward members to canvas the neighborhood Sunday between midnight and 2:30 a.m.
Between 15 and 20 teams of two made contact with individuals on the street and drove around in their cars, yelling Destiny's name.
Police and two K-9 dogs also searched the area, one block at a time, he said.
By Monday morning, police had established a command post at the LDS wardhouse at 704 S. 500 East.
Destiny is 3 feet 6 inches tall and weighs between 45 and 50 pounds. She has blond hair with a green streak in it, and was wearing only an adult-size black shirt with gray stripes.
On Monday, however, about 50 city and federal police officers, along with a bloodhound, were going door-to-door within a five-block radius from the girl's home. At this point, police were not requesting volunteer searchers.
Destiny and her family had just moved into the neighborhood, Snyder said. Anyone with information about Destiny should contact police at 801-799-3000.