Having not seen or heard from her daughter in two weeks, Alexis Murphy's mother said in a CNN interview she is keeping strong with support from family and friends. 

"A mother would know if her daughter is really gone, but I still have hope," Laura Murphy said. 

Alexis Murphy was last seen at a gas station earlier this month. Police have arrested a suspect in her abduction, but the suspect's attorney told a CNN affiliate his client split ways with the 17-year-old after a drug deal. 

Murphy's disappearance set off a search that extended 30 miles outside of Lovingston, Virginia, and involved helicopters, search parties with canine units, the Nelson County Sheriff's Office, Virginia State Police and FBI. 

Where is Alexis Murphy? 

Alexis left her Shipman, Virginia, home to visit Lynchburg on August 3, and police have surveillance video showing her at a Lovingston gas station, according to affiliate WVIR-TV in Charlottesville. 

Randy Taylor, 48, was seen on the video and was arrested in her abduction Sunday, police told CNN affiliate WRC-TV, but Taylor's attorney, Michael Hallahan, told WVIR that Taylor was arrested because they found one of Alexis' hairs in his camper. 

The attorney also told WVIR his client wasn't the last person to see Alexis and that police need to be looking for a "black male, mid- to late-20s, cornrows and a 20-year-old burgundy Caprice with 22-inch wheels." 

Taylor saw the girl the night she disappeared, the lawyer said. They were both parked at the gas pumps, and Alexis made a reference to smoking marijuana, Hallahan said. Taylor told her he'd like some marijuana, the attorney said. 
Only local police?
the Nelson County Sheriff's Office, Virginia State Police and FBI. 
