Maryland girl, 11, abducted by father after mother found dead

[March 07, 2014]  (Reuters) — An 11-year-old girl was abducted by her father from a Baltimore area home where her mother was found murdered on Thursday morning, and authorities are searching across Maryland and West Virginia, police said.

Caitlyn Virts was last seen at about 7 a.m. local time in the Dundalk area and was believed to be in "in extreme danger", according to statements by the Baltimore County Police Department and West Virginia State Police.

Her father, 38-year-old Timothy Virts, had been staying at the house where Caitlyn lived with her mother, 36-year-old Bobbie Jo Cortez, whose cause of death had not been determined, the Baltimore County Police Department said in a statement on its website.

"The investigation into Bobbie Jo Cortez's murder remains in its early stages," the statement said.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; editing by Kevin Liffey)

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