FBI expanding efforts to identify woman in RI photo thought to resemble missing Cleveland girl
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The FBI is ramping up efforts to identify a woman in a Rhode Island surveillance photo who investigators say strongly resembles a girl missing from Cleveland since 2007.
The Cleveland Division of the FBI said the woman in the photo is suspected of being involved in a string of identification thefts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The photos were released by police in Warwick, Rhode Island, in October.
FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said the woman strongly resembles Ashley Summers, who was 14 years old when she disappeared in July 2007 from Cleveland.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The agency is using a billboard campaign and social media in an effort to identify the woman in the surveillance photo and gather new information, Anderson said.
Authorities are also seeking any information on a male who is pictured with the woman, as well as the vehicle they were in.
She disappeared from the same neighborhood where Ariel Castro held three women captive for a decade before they escaped.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Summers' aunt told The Associated Press in 2013 that the news of the three women found alive bolstered the spirits of Summers' family.
"We're hoping for our miracle too," she said.
Authorities have said Castro was questioned about Summers, but there was no information linking her case to him. He later pleaded guilty to a long list of charges and committed suicide in prison in September 2013.