The desperate search for a five-year-old girl feared to have been abducted from her home in the Northern Territory has entered its third day.

Sharon Granites went missing from the Old Timers Aboriginal town camp in Alice Springs at about 11.30pm on Sunday after being put to bed.

Police are now searching for the man they believe may have abducted her, recently released prisoner Jefferson Lewis.

NT Acting Commander Mark Grieve said the 47-year-old was staying with Sharon’s family when she went missing.

‘We’re still trying to work through his movements since he got out of prison. We know that he was in and around Old Timers camp and that particular residence on Saturday afternoon into that evening,’ Acting Commander Grieve told reporters at a press conference on Monday.

‘We don’t have any information in regards to whether Mr Lewis has access to a vehicle, we don’t think he does, so we’re hoping that he is still in the immediate area.

‘And if he is involved, we certainly hope that no harm has come to Sharon.’

Lewis holds previous convictions for physical assaults and domestic violence offences and was recently released from prison.

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Five-year-old Sharon went missing from her home at Old Timers Aboriginal town camp in Alice Springs at about 11.30pm on Sunday

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Police are seeking public assistance to locate Jefferson Lewis who they believe may have abducted her

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Sharon disappeared from her home at Old Timers Aboriginal town camp on Sunday (pictured)

Acting Commander Grieve said police suspect Lewis could provide information as to the whereabouts of Sharon due to a number of factors.

‘He’s the only person we haven’t been able to locate and speak to, who was in and around that area at the time,’ he said.

‘Considering himself and Sharon went missing at around the same time, it certainly brings about those suspicious circumstances and we’d like to speak to him about that.’

A wide-scale police operation involving helicopters, drones and foot searches is underway throughout Alice Springs as officers work to find her.

Sergeant Matt Hall told ABC Radio Darwin the search had so far been ‘slow going’ due to the rough terrain.

‘It is a vast search area that we are looking at and going through methodically,’ he told ABC Radio Darwin.

‘The area’s heavily overgrown with buffel grass, so in some areas it’s shoulder-to-shoulder search pattern through that area.

‘So, it is slow going, but we will continue to push through.’

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Sharon was last seen wearing a dark blue short sleeve T-shirt with a white ring stripe around neck and white ring stripe around the end of the sleeves

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Lewis holds previous convictions for physical assaults and domestic violence offences and was recently released from prison

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A wide-scale police operation involving helicopters, drones and foot searches is now underway throughout Alice Springs as officers work to find her

Members from the NT Fire and Rescue and staff from Alice Springs-based organisations like Tangentyere Council and Purple House have also helped take part in the search.

Police believe Lewis and Sharon are not directly related but are known to each other.

Sharon was last seen wearing a dark blue short sleeve T-shirt with a white ring stripe around neck and white ring stripe around the end of the sleeves, and a pair of black boxer style underwear.

Police are urging anyone with information to make contact on 131 444 and quote reference number P26120934.