Police and family are combing the city for a pair of young friends last seen together on Friday near the corner of 145th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. gNBC New York’s Ida Siegal reports.
The search for two missing friends -- an 11-year-old boy from the Bronx and a 13-year-old from Manhattan -- ratcheted into higher gear Wednesday, a day after the NYPD said its detectives had been "working around the clock" to find them and asked the public for help bringing them home.
Alfa Barrie and Garrett Warren were last seen together at a fish market on 145th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem Friday night, witnesses said. A worker at Ana's Fish Market said he saw the boys in the store, where they bought a few items. He said they come to the shop frequently.
Police believe the boys were together when they vanished. The NYPD harbor unit was seen searching the Harlem River near 145th Street Tuesday. Police dive teams scouring the water through the day returned to shore at sunset.
According to his sister, Alfa went to school on Friday and left just after noon because the school had a half day. He was supposed to meet up with his 14-year-old sister, who attends the same school, and walk home together — but he never showed. That was the first indication something was wrong.
"This is something he has never done. This is all new to us. We have no idea what’s going on, he’s a sweet little boy," said Alfa's sister, Fatima Diallo. "Everything that’s happening right now, I can’t comprehend what’s going on."
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The boys do not attend the same school, according to Alfa's sister, but they became neighborhood friends. Their families didn't know they knew each other. Family members and volunteers were passing out flyers Tuesday evening near Colonel Charles Young Playground — where the two missing boys were spotted on surveillance video at one point.
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NYPD officials say they're trying to identify all the other kids who were with them and want to speak with their classmates. They say they've been "working around the clock" to find them and now need the public to lend eyes.
Police say Alfa was last seen wearing a navy sweater with a "Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School" logo, gray pants and gray sneakers, police say. He was reported missing on Mother's Day.
Garrett was reported missing Monday. He was wearing a tan hooded sweatshirt with a white T-shirt underneath, black jeans and blue or black Jordan sneakers at the time he was last seen.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-57-7-TIPS.
