10 a.m. - MINOT - Police said Thursday they planned to drain part of the Souris River near the home of a missing 3-year-old girl after a search of a wildlife refuge turned up no trace of her.

"There's one section (of the river) that we're interested in that's close to the house," Minot Police Capt. Al Hanson said.

Hanson also said authorities were planning "a standard landfill search," and were checking out leads in neighboring counties.

National Guard members, law enforcement officers, and others on foot and in all-terrain vehicles battled heat and then rain in searching the Upper Souris Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday. They found no sign of Reachelle, whose nickname is "Peanut." She has been missing since May 16.

Wednesday's search centered around an area where the body of a man suspected of taking her was found a day before.

Leigh Cowen, 22, was found inside a van on a gravel road at the refuge, and authorities said he apparently killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning.

"We figure we searched at least 2,500 acres of the Upper Souris Wildlife Refuge," said Capt. Todd Keller, of the Ward County Sheriff's Department at the end of the day Wednesday.

"We really didn't have any indication that she was here. The only reason we wanted to search this area so thoroughly was that he was found there," Keller said.

Stephanie Smith, the girl's aunt and legal guardian, and Samantha Smith, her mother, joined other relatives and friends at a news conference with law enforcement officials Wednesday. They said the 3-year-old needs treatment for asthma, and clutched her doll in tears as they spoke about how Reachelle knows the alphabet, likes puzzles and likes to have her picture taken.

"She's our Peanut," Stephanie Smith said.

"Right now, we just want her back," Samantha said.

Dive teams searched part of the Souris River in Minot's Oak Park, near the girl's home. The search also included in the Surrey area, where a farmer thought he had recently seen the van in which Cowen's body was found.

"We're going where the evidence takes us. We're not going to leave any leaf unturned. We're not going to close the door on other suspects," Hanson said.

Reachelle Smith was put to bed at about 10:30 p.m. on May 16 at her home in Minot and was missing the next day, police said.

Authorities said Cowen lived with Stephanie Smith and had told her that the girl was staying with his mother. Police later learned that Cowen's mother had moved to Kansas and did not know the girl's whereabouts. They issued an Amber Alert.

State officials said Cowen was on probation for theft of property in Ward County and had failed to report in as required. A warrant was issued last month for his arrest on charges of violating his probation.

Reachelle Smith is described as white, about 3-foot-4 and weighs about 40 pounds, authorities said. She has brown eyes and straight, light brown hair.