OKLAHOMA CITY - The father of a missing 7-year-old girl whose mother was found slain called for the girl's safe return, and authorities asked law enforcement agencies in several western states to be on the lookout for the girl and her mother's estranged husband.
A teary-eyed J.J. Johnson said at a news conference Monday that his daughter, Aja Daniell Johnson, needed to take her medication, and he made a public plea to the man believed to have taken the girl to give her back.
"Please Lester, if you're listening, anybody who knows where she is, please take her to a safe spot," Johnson said, referring to Lester Hobbs, the estranged husband of Aja's mother, Tonya Hobbs. "I'll see that she's picked up with no questions asked.
"She's only been seven years old for 20 days."
Tonya Hobbs was found slain in her motor home in Geronimo on Sunday and authorities want to question Lester Hobbs, who served prison time for assault and battery with a deadly weapon and other charges.
Oklahoma authorities issued an Amber Alert on Monday and asked law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout in Texas, California and Oregon, where Lester Hobbs has relatives.
"Time is of the essence right now. We've got to get these people located. We don't know who killed Tonya Hobbs, but we certainly believe Mr. Hobbs has knowledge of that," Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said.
"This is certainly a dangerous situation for that 7-year-old girl," she said.
The state medical examiner's office will determine Hobbs' cause of death, but Brown said it was obvious to investigators the woman was slain. She declined to release further details about the slaying.
Lester Hobbs has a long criminal record, including a 1983 conviction for burglary and convictions for driving under the influence, eluding police, driving with a revoked license and resisting arrest. He served a 20-month prison sentence that ended in January 2005 for assault and battery with a deadly weapon and driving under the influence.
Lester Hobbs and Aja were last seen Saturday evening after the girl and her mother were visiting Hobbs at his sister's trailer home in Geronimo, which is about 100 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. Tonya Hobbs' motor home was on the same property as the trailer home, Brown said.
Lester Hobbs was last seen driving a 1992 Toyota Paseo with the Oklahoma license plate number 577-BPW. The car has no hubcaps has plastic covering the rear passenger window. He has several tattoos, including the letters "LOVE" stitched on his left fingers and "ROSE" on his right fingers.
Aja Johnson is 4 feet tall and weighs about 65 pounds. She has brown, shoulder length hair and brown eyes, officials said.