In other efforts to identify the found girl, Wisconsin police are sorting through conflicting information provided by witnesses and the known prostitute with whom the child was living. In a sworn statement, Green Bay police officer Rod DuBois said that on April 22, the girl was taken from Heidi Hildahl, also known as Heidi Larios. Police then suspected drug activity at the house and now believe the child also may have been sexually abused.

One witness told investigators that Hildahl said the girl had been obtained in California by her husband, Salvador Larios, who may have traded crack cocaine to an unknown woman for the child, DuBois said in an affidavit.

When questioned by police, Hildahl told a different story.

"Heidi said that Salvador's son got a girl pregnant in Las Vegas," DuBois said in his statement. "They were users of a street drug named crank and committed crimes and were sent to prison. Heidi said the (child) was born in prison and that she and Salvador were granted guardianship by the Nevada Prison System."

Police records give the date of the unknown girl's birth as March 14, 2005. Everlyse was born Jan. 26, 2004.

The name of the birth mother is listed in Green Bay police documents as Danielle Allen. Online records for Nevada's prison system show that a Danielle R. Allen, now 26, was incarcerated at the North Las Vegas women's prison during the time in question. Allen was serving time for possession of a controlled substance for sale, a charge that originated in Washoe County.

"My understanding is that the child was born to an inmate, yes," Nevada Corrections Director Howard Skolnik said Thursday when asked about the Wisconsin case.

Skolnik could not immediately confirm the names of the inmate or the child, or details of the birth.

When an inmate gives birth, Skolnik said, the baby is usually released to a relative of the prisoner. If no relative comes forward, the infant enters the child welfare system for placement with a foster family.

In the absence of certainty about who the mystery girl is, North Las Vegas police hold out hope that the child in the custody of Wisconsin authorities could be Everlyse. The two-year investigation into the girl's disappearance has been frustrating for North Las Vegas investigators, who have yet to receive a productive lead in the case.

"We're hoping and praying it's her," North Las Vegas police spokesman Mark Hoyt said.

The foster parents, Manuel and Vilma Carrascal, told local police that Everlyse -- who was 21/2 years old when she disappeared June 10, 2006 -- let herself out of the house sometime in the night and disappeared. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt, pink shorts and no shoes. The Carrascals have since refused to be reinterviewed by police.

The theory that the Wisconsin child could be Everlyse emerged after Green Bay investigators searched a database of missing girls in Southern Nevada. North Las Vegas police were contacted after Wisconsin police found information on Everlyse's case.

"We would be remiss if we didn't contact North Las Vegas (police)," said Fleury, the Green Bay police captain. "There were a lot of similarities."

Hoyt said pictures of the girl in Wisconsin show a resemblance to Everlyse.

But Fleury said the new information is pointing police away from that.

"The family's looking for closure, and I understand that," Fleury said. "My heart goes out to them."

The important thing, he said, is that the child is out of harm's way.

The disappearance of Everlyse is at the heart of a federal court lawsuit brought on behalf of the missing girl by her birth parents, Ernesto Cabrera and Marlena Olivas. The lawsuit alleges that Clark County Family Services, the foster parents and other individuals had endangered Everlyse. The lack of training and supervision of the foster home had contributed to the toddler's disappearance, the lawsuit alleges.

Cabrera and Olivas retain their parental rights over Everlyse but have relinquished their parental rights to two siblings, who also were taken into the child welfare system. The children were taken from the couple because of their illegal drug use.

The Carrascals reached a $300,000 settlement in the matter and are no longer named as defendants.

Attorney Gregory Mills, who represents Everlyse in the federal court action, said it's rare for a missing child to be recovered in the care of strangers years after the disappearance. It's more common to see that kind of situation when a noncustodial parent takes a child from a custodial parent, Mills said.

Despite the long odds that the girl in Wisconsin is Everlyse, Mills, like North Las Vegas police, holds on to hope.

"Our primary goal has always been to find Everlyse and to not let it go," Mills said. "That's our first priority."

Review-Journal writer Antonio Planas contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lisa Kim Bach at lbach@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0287.