A $10,000 reward has been posted for information leading to the whereabouts of  12-year-old Autumn Pasquale, a Clayton girl who left her home early Saturday afternoon and did not return.

A candlelight vigil outside the Clayton Municipal Building drew hundreds of people Monday night for Autumn. community could gather again with Autumn on Oct. 29 to celebrate
her 13th birthday. Her mother, Jennifer Cornwell, and father, Anthony Pasquale,
cried throughout the vigil.

Autumn's uncle Paul Spadafora, warned about people posting incorrect information and rumors on social media. He told the Courier-Post,  "every false lead on Facebook or Twitter is hurting us. This is not the time or place to do it."

A frustrated Spadafora also engaged a former New Jersey corrections officer, Joe Nicholas, in a heated discussion over expanding the search beyond Clayton. “This is so beyond Clayton,” adding it could be more effective working farther out and moving closer into town. Spadafora also criticized the Mayor and Police Chief for not being available on Sunday.

 

New photos of Autumn Pasquale released by police on Monday. (Clayton Police)
New photos of Autumn Pasquale released by police on Monday. (Clayton Police)
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Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton stood with her parents Jennifer Cornwell & Anthony Pasquale and said law enforcement has spoken to 75 friends and family. Dalton also said that investigators are looking at records of every registered sex offender in the area and they are looking at surveillance video from around town.

Autumn sent a text message at 2:30PM on Saturday afternoon to her parents but Dalton did not disclose its contents or where it was sent from. Earlier reports indicated a cell tower in neighboring Williamstown was the last to detect her phone's signal.

NO THEORY RULED OUT

He said there is no specific person of interest in the case. "We haven't ruled out any theory as to whether this is a runaway or abduction. We're continuing to track down leads," said Dalton.

Investigators have interviewed all the registered sex offenders living in the area and are searching the areas near their homes.

Volunteer and law enforcement searches are taking place on the ground and in the air led by the  Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office, the FBI  Clayton Police and State Police. More than 100 law enforcement personnel from 18 agencies are now involved in the search.The Find Autumn Pasquale Facebook page helped organize volunteers into search groups.  They're also asking anyone who attended homecoming on Saturday if they may have noticed Pasquale.

Volunteers gathered  at the church next to the Clayton Police Department on Delsea Drive on Monday to join the search. K-9s and crews on horseback searched a wooded area in Wiliamstown where, police say, the girl's cell phone signal was picked up reports WPVI TV.

New photos of Pasquale were distributed to the media on Monday morning.

Searching for Autumn Pasquale in Clayton
Searching for Autumn Pasquale in Clayton (Stacy Proebstle, Townsquare Media NJ)
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Pasquale who was last seen leaving her West High Street home riding a white BMX bicycle at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"The community is coming together, it's a very sad thing. I can only imagine what the parents are dealing with. Right now, we will find her," said Mayor Tom Bianco.

"WE'VE GOT TO BRING AUTUMN HOME"

"If you're a farmer out there farming, please take a look. If you're a bus driver, if you're a guy on the road, if you're a toll-taker, anybody. We're putting it out to the Delaware Valley, we've got to bring Autumn home," her uncle, Paul Spadafora told WPVI TV.

Her father, Tony Pasquale, told reporters that he believed she was heading to a friend's house and that the family became worried when they realized she never made it there.They notified police at 9:30PM on Saturday night.

Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld  says he doesn't know why nine hours elapsed between the last time she was seen and when she was reported missing.

Police tell WCAU TV Pasquale may have been scene on E. Academy Street near Scotland Run Park in Clayton though this has not yet been confirmed.

Late Sunday night volunteers met at a church to hand out flyers and re-organize. Volunteers were told to stay out of wooded areas to give police bloodhounds a chance to pick up Pasquale's scent.

Earlier in the search a New Jersey State Police helicopter, bloodhounds and searchers were used in several locations, including a bike trail leading from Clayton to the neighboring community of Williamstown and Scotland Run Park on the outskirts of Clayton.

Around 40 officers took part in the search Sunday, including members of the county's Emergency Response Team.

Pasquale is  wearing shorts and a white T-shirt, is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighs 120 pounds and has blue eyes and wavy blonde hair that's usually in a ponytail or a loose bun.

Anyone with information should call Clayton Police at (856) 881-2301.

Stacy Proebstle & The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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