Amber Alert issued in Delaware

An Amber Alert has been issued for an unknown girl who police believe was abducted in Delaware.

The alert says witnesses reported that a man pulled a girl into a vehicle while she was walking near the Whispering Pines Townhomes community in Newark, Del., at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The girl's identity remained unknown this morning and there were no reports of a child missing, said Cpl. John Weglarz, a New Castle County police spokesman.

He said investigators were conducting interviews in an effort to get more information.

Police described the girl as white and between the ages of 10 and 12.

The suspect was driving an older-model, white SUV, with dark-tinted rear windows and a roof rack. He was about 30 years old. No further descriptions of the girl or suspect were available.

A 12-year-old girl who said she witnessed the incident told NBC Philadelphia that the girl was screaming "Help me!" as the man put her in the vehicle.

"The window was cracked so she was trying to put her hands out, trying to reach for the handle, trying to open it," the girl told the television station. "He yanked her back in, closed the window and told her to shut up."

The townhome community is located near Albion Drive and Elliott Street in Newark, and the vehicle was last seen turning right onto Old Newark Road, police said.

Investigators in the neighborhood were stopping vehicles matching the description of the SUV and a helicopter was searching above the area, the Wilmington News Journal reports.

Department of Justice guidelines say Amber Alerts should only be issued if certain critera are met. Those criteria include: a confirmed abduction, a risk of serious injury or death to the child and sufficient descriptive information for a public broadcast to help law enforcement locate the child and suspect.

"The criteria fit, as to what was stated by a witness," Weglarz said.

Anyone with information should call 911.