BETHEL, Vt. — Additional state troopers and FBI agents were brought Sunday onto the case of a 12-year-old girl who disappeared Wednesday, but authorities reported no major breaks in the investigation.
Brooke Bennett of Braintree was last seen in Randolph on Wednesday after her uncle dropped her off at a convenience store.
She had told family members she planned to meet a friend and visit the friend’s relative in a hospital. But police have said they doubt the girl had such a plan. Instead, they believe she may have been to meet someone she had contacted through the MySpace social networking Web site.
State Police Sgt. Tara Thomas said investigators had planned to do aerial searches on Sunday, but that weather factors, including a low cloud cover, prevented that. She said she expected searching from the air would begin early this week.
Police on Friday issued Vermont’s first-ever AMBER Alert, which is essentially a missing-person report blasted to media and even to cell phone customers who have signed up to receive such messages. Thomas said Sunday authorities had received more than 150 tips in response to that notification.
“Then it’s a matter of getting on the phone, tracking down those leads, seeing what information they might provide,” she said. She could not say whether any of the tips received so far had led investigators to hope they might soon resolve the case.