Alice Springs missing child: Police seize number of items linked to disappearance of 5yo Sharon Granites

Detectives have seized a child’s underwear, a doona and clothing from a crime scene linked to the disappearance of five-year-old Sharon Granites, as police warn that anyone helping her abductor will also face criminal charges.

Police are desperately searching for the little girl and 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who was released from jail last week and is also missing.

They suspect Sharon was “led away” from a home in an Aboriginal town camp, called Old Timers, on the outskirts of Alice Springs on Saturday night.

Sharon and her mother were visiting the camp, wedged between the Stuart Highway and Todd River, where Lewis was staying.

Lewis was last seen holding a little girl’s hand during a party at the camp in the hours before they both vanished.

He had been released from prison six days earlier and has a history of violent offending.

Sharon’s mother reported the little girl missing to police at 1.35am on Sunday.

On Sunday, police established a crime scene at a site on the banks of the Todd River, behind Old Timers camp, after locating items of interest.

“We seized a number of items from that crime scene, being a doona and doona cover, the shirt that Jefferson Lewis was wearing – it was a distinct yellow one – and we seized a pair of child’s underwear from that location,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley said on Wednesday.

“Those items have now been transported to Darwin and they’re undergoing forensic analysis and I expect to have that back tomorrow.

“It was on the river bank at the back of the camp, so it was pretty close by.”

Sharon’s family were informed about the items of interest “very early on” and are “obviously distressed”.

Mr Malley said Sharon is a “very affectionate little girl loved by her family”.

“It’s a horrible thing that they are going through at the moment and we’re doing the best we can for them at this stage,” he said.

Mr Malley said intelligence has been shared interstate – including with Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland – though police still believe Lewis is in Central Australia.

“We still believe that he’s local, but everything’s on the table,” he said.

“Somebody could be assisting him to stay away from us, and I would caution anybody assisting him because you could also find yourself being charged with offences.

“He has family there (in Balgo, WA) and we have sought assistance from the Western Australia police, and they have attended that community and conducted inquiries for us there.

“From the investigation we’ve undertaken, from people we’ve spoken to, we still think he’s here. But, like I said, I’ve been wrong before, and we’re considering everything.”

Sharon was last seen at Old Timers camp late on Saturday night but the timeline is fluid.

“From the information I have, she was put down before 11pm, but I don’t have the exact timeline,” Mr Malley said.

“When I say before 11pm, it could be 10pm, but before 11.”

Mr Malley confirmed that Lewis was seen holding hands with the child sometime after she was put to bed.

He said police had spoken to Lewis earlier that evening, when they responded to an unrelated job at Old Timers camp.

“We were called to Old Timers camp for a mental health episode and when police arrived Mr Lewis was one of the only people there and there was nothing going on,” he said.

“So the police made some enquiries, had a look around and left.”

The interaction was captured on police body-worn video, which is how police know what he had been wearing.

Police do not know if Sharon is still with Lewis and admit she may have since “wandered off into the bush”.

On Wednesday, Police Commissioner Martin Dole implored “the entire community” to help find Sharon.

Mr Dole also said police believe members of the community “know where Jefferson Lewis is”.

“What I want to say to you is tell us. Tell us what you know. Tell us where he is. Tell us how to contact him,” he said.

“If you’re withholding information because you are frightened, please have confidence that we will treat that information sensitively.

“It’s very unusual that we’ve got absolutely no contact, no trace and no location of Mr Lewis so we absolutely believe that there’s members of the community who know where he is, where he went and how to contact him. We implore those people to come forward and give us that information.”

Mr Malley cautioned anyone who assists Lewis to evade police “could also find yourself being charged with offenses”.

“There’s people in the community that aren’t telling us what we need to hear,” he said.

“That’s really frustrating when we believe that there’s some serious offences that have been committed and people are withholding that information from the police.”

His message to Lewis was blunt: “Hand yourself in”.

“Go to the nearest police station or give us a call and we’ll come and grab you,” he said.

Police said they’ve had to “go back to 1930s policing” in their bid to track Lewis.

“You know, this man doesn’t have a telephone. He doesn’t have a bank account. He doesn’t have a car,” Mr Malley said.

“So some of the usual practices that we do in 2026 aren’t applicable, hence the amount of resources we have on the ground.

“You know, we’re knocking on doors. We’re going through houses. It’s old style policing and it’s a hard slog.”

Mr Malley said police have been searching places Lewis was known to visit.

“He has, in the past, had an ankle monitor on and so that also has been looked at, and that revealed many places of interest,” he said.

“So anywhere he’s frequented, we’ve been, and we’ll continue to go until we get him.”

Hundreds of police officers, ADF members, Aboriginal trackers and volunteers have been scouring tough desert terrain to find Sharon.

On Wednesday, search coordinator Senior Constable Karl von Minden said volunteers and officers were being briefed to watch for any sign of the child, including her clothing.

“If you do find a blue shirt with white neckline and white arms, don’t touch it,” he told searchers.

“Take a photo of it, tell your police officer – if you’re with one – and let us know straight away.”

Sharon was last seen wearing a dark blue short-sleeved T-shirt with white trim around the neckline and sleeves.

The aerial search has now expanded to almost 80 square kilometres, while ground crews continue to focus on a 20-square-kilometre zone around the town camp.

About five square kilometres of that area has been line-searched on foot, with teams repeatedly combing key locations from different directions.

“We’re going over some key areas a couple of times … and expanding that out,” he said.

Sen Constable von Minden said police were keeping all lines of inquiry open as the investigation continues.

“There’s a number of possibilities we’re working on … we’re not ruling anything out at this stage,” he said.

Police say every available resource is being deployed, including helicopters, drones, mounted police, dog squads, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.

Aboriginal liaison officers and civilian trackers are also assisting on the ground, working alongside volunteers to search dense bushland and riverbanks.

Despite the scale of the search, there have been no confirmed sightings of Sharon.

Lewis, from Lajamanu, was released from prison less than a week before Sharon vanished.

Between 2016 and 2025, Mr Lewis was sentenced to 64 months in prison for offences including aggravated assaults, breaching domestic violence orders, bail and resisting police.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Lewis or Sharon is urged to call police on 000. Please quote reference P26120934 or contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.