WAYNE COUNTY, N.C. (Gray News) – Authorities in North Carolina have issued an Amber Alert for a missing Wayne County teenager.

According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, 13-year-old Ariell Denton was reported missing Thursday, and an Amber Alert was sent out just after 4 p.m. local time.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also picked up the alert.

Authorities described the teen as about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds. She has long brown hair and hazel eyes.

Ariell was last seen wearing black-and-white checkered pants, a blue pullover and tennis shoes.

No further information was immediately available.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office urged anyone who may have information about Ariell’s whereabouts to contact the sheriff’s office at 919-580-4064 or call 911.

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MOORESVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — Sheriff’s deputies are investigating an alleged break-in and theft last week at the North Carolina home of retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, one of seven people who died in a plane crash last month.

The alleged burglary and forcible entry into the Biffle home in Mooresville was reported Jan. 8, according to an incident report from the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Darren Campbell said Wednesday that investigators believe someone entered a safe in the home. In addition to $30,000 in cash and a backpack identified in the incident report as stolen, Campbell said some guns and memorabilia also are gone.

Campbell said no arrests have been made and that no one else was in the home at the time of the alleged crimes. The incident report said the home was last known secure on the afternoon of Jan. 7.

“We’re working the case. We are waiting on some digital evidence,” Campbell said, and he added that interviews also were being conducted.

A business jet carrying Biffle, Biffle’s wife and two children and three others crashed Dec. 18 while trying to return to an airport in Statesville – located about 45 miles north of Charlotte – minutes after taking off from there.

Federal investigators said the Cessna C550 erupted into a large fire when it hit the ground short of the runway. Everyone on board died.

No cause of the crash has been released. Biffle was one of three people on board with a pilot’s license. Investigators said during the crash’s immediate aftermath that they didn’t know who the lead pilot was on the flight.

A public memorial service for Biffle, who won 19 NASCAR Cup Series races during his career, and the six others killed is scheduled for Friday morning at a Charlotte arena.

The Associated Press contributed

Exciting changes are on the horizon at the North Carolina Aquarium
at Fort Fisher.

Officials said the aquarium is expected to undergo a new $75 million expansion and overhaul that Joanna Zazzali, the aquarium’s director, said will bring a
whole new meaning to the space.  

“This will be a ‘wow moment,’ but you’ll have plenty of other ‘wows’ as you continue your journey,” Zazzali said.

But the change comes at a cost. The aquarium
will temporarily close for three years, Zazzali said.

“We will have a minimum staff that will remain here to care
for the animals in the existing facility, and the other staff will be on site at
our pop-up aquarium at the mall,” she said.

While the aquarium is closed, a temporary location will open
in Independence Mall. Officials said the mall, located on a city bus route,
will offer a free opportunity for people who’ve never been to the aquarium
before.

“We are so excited for this new opportunity to connect in an
area of Wilmington that we don’t always reach,” an aquarium staff member said.

According to a video on the NC Aquarium Fort Fisher YouTube
page, this is the first renovation the aquarium has seen in 20 years.

A sneak peek at the new additions can be seen on the
aquarium’s social media. Zazzali said the expansion will include additional
classrooms and exhibits, a rooftop Skydeck, interactive habitats and even a new
tiger shark habitat.

Once completed, officials said the aquarium will be the largest in the state.

A hard closing date for the aquarium has not yet been
announced, officials said. Construction to transform the space the aquarium
will use at the mall is expected to take several weeks to complete before the process of moving some of the animals, equipment and staff.