By: Las Vegas Now Staff
Missing for two years, police may have a lead in the case of a foster child who vanished one night. The whereabouts of Everlyse Cabrera have been a mystery for years, but now a toddler found in the Midwest may be the key to what happened to the little girl.
North Las Vegas Police say, at this point, they don't have enough evidence one way or the other to know whether the little girl found in Wisconsin is Everlyse. As Eyewitness News first reported, police in Green Bay found the 4-year-old about a week ago in connection with a drug arrest. Sources say the man she was with told police he got her in Las Vegas. It's believed she was either sold or traded for drugs.
At the time of her disappearance, her foster parents, Manuel and Vilma Carrascal, told North Las Vegas police they believed the 2-year-old girl let herself out of the house during the night. They refused follow-up police interviews and have not been charged with a crime. Cabrera was removed from her birth parents following allegations of illegal drug use.
The Cabrera disappearance sparked widespread searches, a review of Clark County's child welfare system, and a federal lawsuit by the girl's birth parents, Ernesto Cabrera and Marlena Olivas. They alleged poor foster care screening, training and oversight by eight individuals and Clark County Family Services.
Investigators in both cities have since swapped photographs. North Las Vegas Police believe the girl in Green Bay bears some resemblance to Everlyse, but it's not an obvious match.
Investigators expect to receive a DNA sample taken from the girl to be analyzed here. That process will likely take several weeks.
Everlyse's biological mother, Marlena Olivas, says she's praying police have found her daughter, while at the same time trying not to imagine what may have been happening to her if indeed she was sold.
Investigators say they're working quickly to identify the little 4-year-old, whoever she may be.
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