Police in Saipan in the Northern Marianas are hopeful two young sisters who disappeared from a school bus stop two days ago will soon be found.
The FBI, customs, and volunteers are all helping the police with a grid search for the girls aged nine and ten.
The sisters live with their grandparents who reported them missing on Wednesday afternoon when they realised the children never made it to school.
A police officer heading the search, Jason Tarkong, says his team is following good leads from the public and he believes the girls are still on the island.
"''We are treating it as missing, as missing children. I can't comment on whether there's evidence of it being an abduction, or it could be anything. The worst case scenario as an abduction, a kidnapping, well we can't confirm that. Or the best case scenario, maybe even runaways.''"
Mr Tarkong says police are doing check points and investigating every lead as people call in with information.
