Zahra Baker' family reported her missing on Oct. 9. Her disappearance has turned into a homicide investigation.
Efforts to find the 10-year-old had been hampered by the authorities' inability to find anyone outside Zahra's immediate family who'd seen the child in the month before she was reported missing.
But now, the staff at a local furniture store claim to have seen the girl on Sept. 25.
James Nix, Independent Tribune / AP
Zahra Clare Baker, 10, gets a hearing aid at an event at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., in May. Zahra's family reported her missing on Oct. 9.
Employees at In Your Home Furnishing in Hickory, where Zahra's family lives, said they saw her in the store with her stepmother, and recalled her being addressed as "Zahra."
"We have cartoons for children playing on the TVs ... and she was standing in the aisle way. As I walked past, I just touched her on the shoulder and said 'Excuse me, sweetheart' and she just looked up at me and smiled," floor manager Pat Adams told a NewsChannel 36, a local NBC affiliate.
The staff also noticed that the girl had a prosthetic leg, just like Zahra, who lost a leg and her hearing to bone cancer.
The stepmother, Elisa Baker, has been charged with obstruction of justice in the case after she allegedly wrote a ransom note to confuse authorities. If found guilty, she could face 30 months in prison. She insists she had nothing to do with Zahra's disappearance.
Police said the development in the store would help clarify the period in which Zahra vanished.
"It's been very difficult because folks keep jumping around on us," Major Clyde Deal of the Hickory Police Department told AOL News. The furniture store sighting "helps in building a timeline."
Still, Deal said that the new information was not a major break in the case.
"It's not a significant point in leading us to where she is now," said Deal, who added that police will continue today with interviews and searches as they hunt for more information on Zahra's whereabouts.
The missing girl's father, Adam Baker, and Elisa reported Zahra missing a week ago, saying they last saw her in bed at their home, according to The Associated Press. Police don't believe the story.
Authorities have searched a site owned by Adam's employer, as well as deployed sniffer dogs across three counties. Police also searched the family's home, cars and computer records for any indication of what might have happened to Zahra.
Adam moved to Catawba County with Zahra and Elisa this summer. Zahra was born in Wagga Wagga, a town in southeast Australia, The Herald Sun reported. Her parents split up when she was young, and her father moved to North Carolina two years ago after meeting Elisa on the Internet.
There have been reports that Elisa was ill tempered and frequently lashed out at Zahra. Kayla Rotenberry, a former neighbor, told the AP that the Caldwell County Department of Social Services investigated the family because Zahra showed up at school with bruises.
Adam, whom authorities said was cooperating with the investigation, has insisted on his innocence, but said he's not sure about his wife's role.
"Everybody knows more than I do," said Adam, according to NewsChannel 36.