Andy Thompson | Appleton Post-Crescent

Trent Tetzlaff, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

BARRON – Hania Aguilar was waiting for a ride to school on Nov. 5 when a masked man made his move.

Suddenly, the 13-year-old North Carolina girl was gone, driven away in the family’s Ford Expedition, which had been idling in the driveway. The SUV was found four days later, but Hania is still missing. Authorities believe a man dressed in black and wearing a yellow bandana forced her into the vehicle and drove away.

The kidnapping in Lumberton, a city in southeastern North Carolina roughly 95 miles from Raleigh, drew a quick response from local, state and federal authorities. It also caught the attention of Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald and investigators looking into the disappearance of Jayme Closs, the 13-year-old girl who vanished early Oct. 15. In the Closs case, the sheriff’s department responded to a 911 call at her family’s home in the small western Wisconsin community and found her parents, James and Denise Closs, dead of gunshot wounds. Authorities have described Jayme as missing and endangered.

Barron County Sheriff's Department

Fitzgerald told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that law enforcement officials have looked into the North Carolina abduction to see if the cases might be related.

The answer? Probably not.

“At this time, there are no similarities in the cases,” Fitzgerald said.

But looking into cases with any possible connections is part of the process, he said.

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“We’d follow up on every case,” he said. “Something is out there (to assist authorities).”

Another North Carolina case, this one from 16 years ago, has some similarities to the Jayme Closs disappearance.

On Aug. 15, 2002, Mary and Michael Short were found dead at their home in Henry County, Virginia. Michael was found on a couch in the attached garage and Mary was found in a bedroom. Both had been shot in the head.

Their 9-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was missing. It touched off a massive search involving state police, regional law enforcement, FBI, ATF and many volunteers.

The search ended tragically on Sept. 25, 2002, when Jennifer’s body was found in nearby Rockingham County, North Carolina. She also had been shot.

Even though the murders of the Short family happened 16 years ago, investigator say they’re still following up on leads. They issued a plea in early October for information from those who knew Jennifer Short when she was alive.

In Jayme Closs’s case, Fitzgerald said, agents from the FBI and the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation are still working extensively to find Jayme.

“There’s lots of hope still,” Fitzgerald said. The sheriff said “a scared 13-year-old girl” is out there and he believes authorities will bring her home.

Fitzgerald said a motive for the double murder and abduction of the Closs family is unclear.

“I don’t know the motive here. I wish I knew the motive. That is very key.”

Fitzgerald said there’s no reason to dispute his theory that Jayme is still alive.