Missing Indiana girl, 9, found dead

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A missing 9-year-old Indiana girl has been found dead, and a family friend was charged last night with murder, authorities said.

Allen County sheriff's spokesman Cpl. Jeremy Tinkel said investigators found the body of Aliahna Lemmon in the county, but he wouldn't say where. He said Mike Plumadore, 39, was taken into custody at 9 p.m.

Plumadore, who had been watching Aliahna and her sisters before Aliahna was reported missing late Friday, is scheduled to appear in court today.

Monday, FBI agents descended on the rundown mobile home park in Fort Wayne where Aliahna lived. It's a known haven for registered sex offenders, though Plumadore isn't on that list in Indiana.

He has a criminal record in Florida and North Carolina that includes convictions for trespassing and assault.

More than 100 emergency workers searched Saturday for Aliahna around the mobile home park, where she was last seen. Search dogs and FBI agents were at the park and the girl's home Monday.

According to a state website, 15 registered sex offenders live at the mobile home park, which has about two dozen homes.

Aliahna's mother, Tarah Souders, 28, told The Journal Gazette earlier Monday that her daughter had vision and hearing problems, as well as attention deficit disorder and emotional problems. Aliahna and her sisters were staying at Plumadore's nearby home because Souders was ill and Aliahna's stepfather works at night and sleeps during the day.

Plumadore told the newspaper Sunday that all three girls were present when he returned from a 6 a.m. outing to buy a cigar. He said he smoked the cigar and went to sleep. After a 10 a.m. phone call from the girls' mother, he saw the door to the home was unlocked and that Aliahna was gone. He said Aliahna's 6-year-old sisters told him Aliahna left with her mom. He said it wasn't until he talked with Souders about 8:30 p.m. that they realized Aliahna was missing.