‘Holding hands’: NT Police probe whether man suspected of abducting little girl had help

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","dateModified":"2026-04-28T04:20:45Z","datePublished":"2026-04-28T03:09:39Z","description":"Police also said the Alice Springs girl’s suspected abductor may be receiving assistance.","headline":"Little girl’s suspected abductor released from prison six days ago, say NT Police","keywords":"Crime, Alice Springs, Screens Ooh! SMH, Screens Ooh! The Age, Screens Ooh! BT, Screens Ooh! WAT","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Angus Delaney","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"/by/angus-delaney-p537ju"}],"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/national/holding-hands-nt-police-probe-whether-man-suspected-of-abducting-little-girl-had-help-20260428-p5zrok.html","@type":"WebPage"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"1322.6666666666665","url":"https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_2.1096%2C$multiply_0.7025%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_6/t_crop_custom/q_86%2Cf_auto/769de39a99639a70e0425350a00cd54852cdeeff","width":"744"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".paywall"}],"publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"628","url":"https://www.smh.com.au/metro-assets/assets/static/smh.png","width":"1200"},"url":"https://www.smh.com.au"},"isPartOf":{"@type":["CreativeWork","Product"],"name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","productID":"smh.com.au:webonly"}}{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au","name":"Home"},"position":1},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/national","name":"National"},"position":2},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/topic/crime-5w4","name":"Crime"},"position":3}]}AdvertisementNationalCrimeLittle girl’s suspected abductor released from prison six days ago, say NT PoliceAngus DelaneyUpdated April 28, 2026 — 2:20pm,first published 1:09pmSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.ShareAAAThe suspected abductor of a five-year-old Alice Springs girl was released from prison just six days ago.Sharon Granites was last seen after her parents tucked her into bed about 11.30pm on Saturday, and police suspect 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, a recently released prisoner, is behind her disappearance.NT police suspect five-year-old Sharon was abducted from her home.NT Police“He was last seen with the little girl holding hands at around about 11 o’clock that night,” said Northern Territory Police’s Assistant Commissioner Crime and Intelligence Peter Malley. He added: “We believe Jefferson Lewis has led the little girl away to that crime scene.”Malley said Jefferson, who has a long criminal history, including assault and domestic violence charges, had been released from prison just six days ago. He has no known priors relating to offences against a child.AdvertisementPolice are also investigating whether an accomplice was assisting Jefferson.Malley said on Tuesday that Lewis did not have access to a car, “but that’s not to say that somebody’s not driving him around”, saying that the suspect could have an accomplice.Malley said if Lewis had abducted Sharon, police had not determined a motive. Police said Lewis was likely under the influence of alcohol at the time of Sharon’s disappearance.Northern Territory Police’s Peter Malley and Leanne Liddle…

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