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Missing Girl's Kin Questioned

The father and uncle of a 6-year-old girl who vanished Saturday from the backyard of their home in Silver Spring were called yesterday before a Montgomery County grand jury to answer questions about her disappearance, the men said.

Carl Dorr, 33, a body shop painter and the father of Michele Lee Dorr, alleged that the summons to appear before the grand jury was an attempt by the Montgomery County police to "intimidate" and "harass" him and his brother, Charles, 31, into saying that they know what happened to his daughter. He said he had no idea where his daughter is.

Dorr said the detectives who questioned him about his daughter have accused him of abducting her to avoid paying child support. Dorr and his wife Dorothy, who lives in Gaithersburg, are separated and he recently was ordered by a judge to pay $400 a month in child support. The court allowed Michele to visit her father every other weekend.

Dorothy Dorr could not be reached for comment on her daughter's disappearance.

"They have accused me point blank of abducting her and killing her," Carl Dorr said. "They have put me under the gun because they have no clues, nothing to go on."

Police department spokesman Harry Geehreng denied Dorr's allegations. "No, we're not accusing anyone," Geehreng said. "We've got a missing child. It's not a crime so there are no suspects . . . but we do have to question people. That's part of the investigation."

Assistant State's Attorney Robert Dean, who is handling the matter, said he could not comment on why the Dorrs had been called before the grand jury.

But suspicion that Michele Dorr may have been abducted yesterday prompted the National Missing Child Search Society, a private, nonprofit organization that helps search for missing children, to post a $15,000 reward.