Search for missing girl shifts to other states

INDIAN ISLAND – Police have shifted their search out of state for a girl believed to have been abducted last week by her father.

Authorities believe that Amanda Francis, 13, was taken by her father, Bert Francis, 45, and that the two are headed out of state.

“We believe he’s headed to Delaware and believe that Amanda is with him,” Indian Island Police Chief Seth Mitchell said Thursday.

Bert Francis was indicted Monday on two counts of gross sexual assault, according to Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts.

Roberts said Monday that the charges stem from assaults involving a minor female that allegedly occurred in February.

Although police have received new tips in the last few days, nothing has materialized, according to Mitchell.

Amanda and Bert Francis are believed to be traveling in a 1990 red Mazda Protege with Maine license plate 7643LK.

Amanda Francis is 5-feet-6-inches tall, weighs 110 pounds and has hazel eyes and shoulder-length blond hair. The girl had been staying at a foster home in Brewer for about two weeks after being placed there by the Penobscot Indian Nation Department of Human Services.

Bert Francis is 5-feet-11-inches tall, weighs 250 pounds, and has brown, shoulder-length hair, a mustache and goatee, Bryant said.

Bryant asks that anyone with information regarding the location of Amanda or Bert Francis, or the vehicle they are believed to be driving, contact Maine State Police in Orono at (800) 432-7381 or 866-2121, or Indian Island Police at 827-6336.