Julisa Gomez Diaz was taken from the home where she had been living with her mother around 11:10 p.m. Sunday, said Sgt. Wayne Redden of the Cairo Police Department.

The child's father, Oscar Lopez, had moved to Tampa, Fla., and had come to the home earlier in the day trying to persuade the girl's mother to move there with him. But the mother refused, Redden said.

Lopez, 30, is believed to have broken in through a window that night and taken the child, Redden said.

The child and suspect were last seen in a green Toyota Camry with Florida plates. They are thought to be heading back to Tampa, Redden said.

Cairo is 199 miles south of Atlanta.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)