The Ohio Attorney General's Office is circulating a new photograph of Rainn Peterson in the hope that someone will recognize her and lead authorities to the two-year-old who has been missing since Friday.

The image of the toddler in a swing was released as a regional endangered missing child advisory for the child was elevated to a statewide alert.

Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere tells 21 News that the advisory that went out to twenty Ohio counties Saturday morning, was expanded to the entire state Sunday afternoon.

The Ohio Attorney General's Office says the alert has also been expanded to Northwest Pennsylvania.

According to Ohio Attorney General spokesperson Jill DelGreco, the alerts go out to law enforcement, the media, truck drivers, as well as any agency or individual who has signed up to receive the alerts.

The lead agency, which in the current case is the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department, selects the region for the alert which was expanded to cover the entire state on Sunday.

DelGreco says that in general, other states are only notified if there is a chance the child could be in that state.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Missing Persons website has posted the information.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also received the statewide advisory, and has now posted an alert on it's Facebook page.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is the nation’s clearinghouse on issues related to missing and sexually exploited children, and is authorized by Congress to perform 22 programs and services to assist law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them.

The poster can be seen by following this link.

More than 200 volunteers are taking advantage of the daylight to search for the little girl who disappeared from her great grandparents home in Bloomfield Township Friday night.

After the call went out Sunday morning for volunteers, more than 200 people reported to the Township fire station.  No more volunteers are needed.

Each volunteer gave their name, date of birth and phone number to agents from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who ran criminal background checks.

Only one volunteer was turned away because of the background check.

The volunteers split up into teams and are being supervised by deputies as they fan out over the search area.

Chief Deputy Earnie Cook tells 21 News that each volunteer has been give instructions on what to do if they discover anything of interest to investigators.

Those not searching for the little girl are praying for her safe return and for her family. 

Responding to calls for prayer on Facebook, a vigil was organized at 3 p.m. at Bristol Park in Bristolville.

About thirty people gathered to join hands and bowed their heads praying for the missing toddler.

Earlier Sunday, a helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging camera swept over the northern Trumbull County neighborhood where the little girl was last seen.

Thermal imaging can detect heat signatures radiated by humans or other animal life.

Sunday's weather lacked the rain that kept the helicopter from flying on Saturday.

Also to assist in the search, Trumbull County is using special video equipment to search culverts just in case the child may have been swept away in waters from the weekend rain.

U.S. Marshals and the FBI have joined Trumbull County Sheriff's deputies and fire department crews in the search..

Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere told 21 News Reporter Lindsay McCoy on WFMJ Weekend Today that one of the search dogs picked up the scent of the missing tot on Saturday, but then lost the track.

Altiere was hoping that one of the four dogs taking part in the search today would be able to pick up the trail again down the street from the home where she was last seen. However at this time there has been no sign of the child.

Mounted searchers are also taking part. The Sheriff says horses can cover more ground quickly and give riders a better vantage point from which to find the 24-pound girl.

Altiere says the size of the three-foot-tall girl is one of the challenges facing searchers. He says it could be difficult to spot the little girl in cornfields and high grass or if she has fallen into one of the many tractor ruts on the farmland.

A large barn poses similar problems. The Sheriff says it could take five people several days to search every nook and cranny of the large structure.

The search for Rainn Peterson began Friday evening shortly after her great grandparents reported that she had disappeared from their North Bloomfield home on State Route 45.

The two-year-old had been in the home with her two siblings when she was reported missing.

“She's two years old and goes to strangers. She goes to anybody. She is just an innocent little girl and she is lost and i don't know if she is cold or hungry,” Rainn’s mother Brandi Peterson told 21 News on Saturday.

Officials from Trumbull County Children's Services have interviewed the siblings for any information they may have about the last hours they saw their sister.

Sheriff Altiere, who has been briefing the media about the disappearance and search, says that deputies searched the home three times and found no signs of violence or forced entry.

Investigators have administered polygraph tests, sometimes referred to as a lie-detector, to members of the missing child’s family.

21 News has learned that the polygraph helped corroborate the alibi of Rainn’s father, who has is estranged from the child’s mother, Brandi Peterson.

Detectives  questioned sex offenders living or working the area were also questioned. According to Altiere they have no persons of interest associated with the disappearance.

Description:

  • Name: Rainn Peterson
  • Sex: Female
  • Race: White
  • Age: 2
  • Ht: 3 ft.
  • Wt.: 24 lbs.
  • Eyes: Brown
  • Hair: Brown shoulder length

Rainn was last seen wearing a long sleeve purple top with snowflake sequins, and multicolored shoes.

Anyone with information on Rainn's whereabouts is asked to call the Trumbull County Dispatch Center at (330) 675-2730.