Missouri Amber Alert: Police say Abigail Berthoff abducted by Jeffrey Shelton

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. - Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for a 5-year-old Missouri girl who was apparently abducted overnight by a registered sex offender.

According to the online Missouri Amber Alert portal, Abigail Berthoff was taken from her Poplar Bluff home between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday.

The suspect is identified as 45-year-old Jeffrey Shelton. The relation between the two was not immediately clear.

Shelton is a registered sex offender. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Sex Offender Registry, he was convicted in 1990 of kidnapping, rape, attempted kidnapping and two counts of sodomy in Fort Hood, Texas.

Abigail is bi-racial with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink princess night gown, the Poplar Bluff Police Department said.

Shelton is a white man, about 6 feet tall, weighing 175 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes and is believed to be driving a silver 2001 Nissan Pathfinder with Missouri license PJ8Z5M.

Poplar Bluff is in southeastern Missouri, about 150 miles south of St. Louis.

If you have seen Abigail or Shelton, or know anything about their whereabouts, call the Poplar Bluff Police Department at (573) 785-5776.