Authorities in Texas are searching for a 3-year-old boy last seen playing outside with the family dog on Wednesday.
The boy, Christopher Ramirez, was outside the family's home in Plantersville, northwest of Houston, around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.
His mother, Araceli Nunez, said she noticed he was gone only two minutes later. She ran out screaming his name, she told reporters Thursday, and a neighbor said she saw him chasing the dog down the road.
"She ran fast, called his name, and he never answered," Grimes County sheriff's Sgt. Martha Smith said, translating Nunez's comments in Spanish.
Nunez said she believes someone has her son.
Investigators have not found any evidence of foul play or an abduction, but they are not ruling anything out, Sheriff Donald Sowell said
"Nothing has come up to indicate that, as we speak," Sowell said. "We're exploring every possibility."
Searchers have been using dogs, helicopters and drones, and Texas EquuSearch and other groups are assisting, Sowell said. More than 150 people have been involved in the search.
The family has been cooperative, and so have residents in the neighborhood, some of whom have cameras on their properties, Sowell said.
Smith, translating Nunez's comments to reporters Thursday, said: "She's begging for help, for somebody to please help her find her son. He needs his mom."
Christopher was last seen wearing a bright green shirt, shorts and red Mickey Mouse shoes, officials said.
