( CNN ) -- Investigators pleaded Monday for swift public help in reconstructing events leading to the disappearance of a 10-year-old Hickory , North Carolina , girl after casting doubt on her stepmother 's story . `` We are running out of time , folks , '' Police Chief Tom Adkins told reporters Monday afternoon . `` The longer this thing goes , the likelihood [ is ] that this outcome will not be positive . '' Zahra Clare Baker was last seen sleeping in her bedroom about 2:30 a.m. Saturday , according to Hickory police . She was reported missing about 2 p.m. Saturday by her father , Adam Baker , and stepmother , Elisa Baker . Adam Baker is cooperating with investigators , Adkins said . But Elisa Baker has been jailed on an outstanding warrant for a bad-check charge , prosecutors said , and Adkins said unspecified `` inconsistencies '' in her statement `` has led us to believe that she has not been truthful to us . '' `` At this point in the investigation , we are having a very difficult time establishing a true timeline , '' Adkins said . `` We are looking for the public to help us . We need teachers . We need doctors . We need store clerks . We need anyone who has seen this girl in the last week , the last month . Anything they feel is important for us to know , we need the public to call us . '' Adkins told reporters earlier Monday that it is unlikely Zahra had run away , and police said over the weekend that the possibility that she was abducted by a stranger was `` less likely than once anticipated . '' A ransom note was found at the house , Adkins said Monday afternoon , but `` We are questioning the validity of that note . '' Zahra is described as being about 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 85 pounds . She has brown hair and blue eyes , and according to CNN affiliate WCNC , she 's a cancer survivor . The girl uses a prosthetic leg and hearing aids . The hearing aids have been found , but not the prosthesis , Adkins said . Elisa Baker was arrested Sunday morning on four counts of writing worthless checks , said Eric Farr , a spokesman for the Catawba County District Attorney 's office . No attorney was listed in court papers , he said . Farr said she faces other charges in different counties , including a felony larceny count and other bad-check charges . She is being held on $ 31,500 bail . Adkins said Adam Baker faces similar charges , but police have held off serving an arrest warrant while he cooperates with police . Adkins said Sunday that a small fire had been reported at the residence the morning Zahra is thought to have vanished . He said `` some evidence '' was recovered from the scene , but would not elaborate on what connection the fire may have with the investigation . The FBI is assisting Hickory police in the investigation , officials said . Authorities ask anyone with information to contact the Hickory Police Department . HLN 's Natisha Lance contributed to this report .
Police cast doubt on stepmother 's story , plead for help . `` We are running out of time , folks '' 10-year-old Zahra Clare Baker was reported missing Saturday . She is a student at the University of North Carolina and her family has been searching since she failed to return home from school Tuesday morning.