250 volunteers join search for missing 2-year-old in Trumbull County

Staff/wire report

NORTH BLOOMFIELD

The search renewed this morning for a toddler who disappeared from her great-grandparents’ house Friday night.

About 250 volunteers and 90 law enforcement officials came out this morning to help with the search. Those on horseback combed through fields while a helicopter hovered above. Authorities were concentrating the search around the home, going through wooded areas, backyards and drainage pipes.

“We’re expanding our search by half a mile,” said Trumbull County Sheriff Tom Altiere.

Rainn was last seen at 7759 state Route 45 before her disappearance at about 7:20 p.m. Friday. Deputies had searched the family’s home several times and had given polygraph tests to the little girl’s relatives, he said, adding that there were no signs of foul play in the disappearance of Rainn Peterson.

The state’s missing-persons list says Rainn is white, is 3 feet tall, weighs 24 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. Search dogs on Saturday briefly picked up the 2-year-old girl’s scent just down the street from where she was last seen, the sheriff said.

One of the challenges is that Rainn, last known to be wearing a purple shirt, gray pants and pink and lime green shoes, could be tough to spot if she’s in a field or hiding in a barn, he said.

“We’re looking everywhere. We’re not putting a limit on the search. We will keep searching until we find her,” Altiere said.