UPDATE 4/14/12 @ 4:45 p.m.
MERCER COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- An Amber Alert for a missing 8-year-old girl has been canceled. Porshia Atwell now back with her family, according to Kanawha County dispatchers.
Dispatchers also say the girl's father, Tracey Atwell, is now in police custody.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
UPDATE 4/13/12 @ 6:20 p.m.
MERCER COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- An amber alert issued for an 8-year-old girl is still in full force Friday night.
State Police say Porshia Atwell was kidnapped Thursday by her father, Tracey Atwell.
They say he killed Porschia's mother, Christina, and then went to his parents’ home in Camp Creek, tied them up and took Porshia with him. Tracey does not have custody of the girl and police believe she is in extreme danger.
Troopers believe Tracey is driving a white 1999 Jeep Cherokee Laredo with the license plate number is 6C3202, and that he is armed with a gun.
Elizabeth McKinney, who lives right down the road from Tracey’s parents’ home, doesn't typically stay outside with her son while he plays.
“Today I feel like I need to be out here and be more hands on,” McKinney said. “You don't know where this person is, and obviously we don't know what this person's capable of either.”
“I just don't understand what made him do it,” Gerald Rose, a neighbor said. “Him killing his wife and tying his mother and daddy up. It's awful.”
Like most neighbors, Rose has been watching police search high and low for Tracey, who they haven't dealt with since 2005.
That's when according to court records, he was arrested in connection with burglary and destruction of property. Both charges were dismissed.
The list of charges this time will no doubt be much longer. Before they can even get to that, though, police and neighbors just want to make sure Porshia is safe.
“Unfortunately somebody died from this and a little girl's life, who knows, hangs in the balance,” McKinney said.
WSAZ.com approached Tracey’s family Friday to see if there was anything they wanted to say, but they had no comment.
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