A helicopter flying over some tall trees in a bush environment.

Police and volunteers are searching for missing girl Sharon Granites on the ground and from the air, over a vast area. (ABC News)

Northern Territory Police have provided an update on the search for five-year-old Sharon Granites, who they believe was abducted from a home in an Alice Springs town camp at the weekend.

Dozens of volunteers have joined police in painstakingly searching about 20 square kilometres of “dense bushland” for missing five-year-old Sharon Granites while investigators urge all Alice Springs residents to “keep their eyes and ears open”.

Northern Territory Police search and rescue section Sergeant Matt Hall said this morning more officers were on their way after searches conducted since Sharon vanished from her bed on Sunday morning had come up empty.

“We’re into day three of the search, at this stage we haven’t located anything that’s provided any valuable information from the searching side,” he said.

At least a dozen people walking in unison away from a high fence and into long grass, as part of a search.

Police and volunteers have been conducting on-foot line searches for Sharon Granites. (ABC News: Will Green)

Sergeant Hall said the support from the community had been “immense”, with up to 60 volunteers now involved in the search under challenging conditions, due to “vastness of the area”, with grass in some places up to 1 metre high.

“You can’t see half a metre either side of you so to cover it, we have a rule of thumb that if you can’t see the other searchers ankles you need to move closer, we just don’t want to miss anything,” he said.

“At some points we’re crossing between open vegetation to closed vegetation, sand, so some of our search area is shoulder to shoulder to ensure that we cover it methodically and don’t miss anything.

“They’re coming here in their own time and just providing that service to us and the community, everyone’s obviously highly concerned and doing what they can.”

Sergeant Hall said after more than 48 hours in the desert air, where temperatures can reach single digits overnight, concern was turning to the potential effects of exposure.

A small group of police officer and volunteers walking through long grass, as part of a search.

Parts of the foot search area are overgrown with buffel grass, making the search “slow going”. (ABC News: Will Green)

“You’ve got a mix between cold at night and then quite hot and dry in the day,” he said.

“At this stage, what we know is there’s a five-year-old potentially out in the elements and as with every other person, they’re subject to those elements.”

Sergeant Hall defended the speed of the police response to Sharon’s disappearance, saying it had been “from day dot, all feet on the ground” and urged residents to remain vigilant.

“We just want them to keep their eyes and ears open, any information they can provide, no matter how little they think it might be, might be that little piece of the puzzle that closes a gap for us,” he said.

“There’s been constant communication with the family, as you would expect with anyone, they’re quite distraught and concerned.

“We’ve appointed a family liaison officer so they’ve got a point of contact and any welfare support has been provided and will continue to be provided to them.”

Young girl in pink dress does peace sign with fingers

Five-year-old Sharon Granites has been missing for more than two days. (Supplied: NT Police Force)

Details around suspected abduction

Police initially said they believed Sharon had likely wandered off through an unlocked door after being put to bed, with her mother raising the alarm after checking her room and finding her missing in the early hours of Sunday morning.

But on Monday, investigators said they believed she had been abducted by a recently released prisoner, 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who was staying at the residence at the time.

A mugshot of an Aboriginal man, serious expression looking directly at camera, yellow / orange pigment behind brown eyes.

Police believe Jefferson Lewis abducted five-year-old Sharon Granites. (Supplied: NT Police Force)

Mr Lewis was recently released from prison after serving an 18-month sentence for serious violence-related offences, and is now also the subject of the wide-scale police manhunt.

The search began in the early hours of Sunday morning, after Sharon’s family realised she had gone missing from a home in the Old Timers camp — a house in which police confirmed Mr Lewis was also staying.

Members of the town camp — one of 17 Aboriginal communities in and around Alice Springs incorporated in the 1970s and administered by the Tangentyere Council — started looking for Sharon but were unable to find her.

The entrance of a town camp, with a man pushing a bike walking into the area.

Sharon Granites was noticed missing from her home at the Old Timers town camp after being put to bed at about 11:30pm on Saturday. (ABC News: Will Green)

Once police were alerted to her disappearance, doorknocks and further searches by officers were conducted in and around the community.

Over Sunday and yesterday, the air search for Sharon covered around 46 square kilometres, while the foot search area has encompassed around 20 square kilometres, much of which is thick scrubland and rough terrain.

A map, using satellite imagery, showing Ilyperenye/Old Timers town camp in relation to Alice Springs and Kilgariff.

Ilyperenye/Old Timers town camp is situated between the Alice Springs town centre and the suburb of Kilgariff. (ABC News Graphics: Jessica Henderson)

As well as two helicopters, the search for Sharon has used heat sensor drones and dozens of emergency services and non-government organisation workers joining forces for ground searches.

Town camp organisation assisting in searches

As well as NT Police, NT Fire and Rescue has been assisting in the searches, as well as Alice Springs-based organisations including Tangentyere Council and Purple House.

Tangentyere Council president Maxine Carlton said about 36 of their staff had taken part in foot patrols.

A woman sitting outside under a tree, in a bush environment, and speaking to someone off-camera.

Maxine Carlton says dozens of Tangentyere Council staff are helping with the searches. (ABC News: Will Green)

“We’ve also reached out to other Aboriginal organisations to assist in this search,” she said.

“We came onboard straight away as we knew, this is a town camp, we are a part of this.”

Tangentyere Council is also helping to support Sharon’s family and other Old Timers community members as they deal with the stress and trauma of the circumstances.

Volunteers search in a line

Alice Springs-based organisations have been rallying to help the search effort. (ABC News: Will Green)

“This is a very distressing time for all families,” Ms Carlton said.

She said that while police had been doing exceptional work in the search, the wider community should have been notified “within an hour” after Sharon went missing.

“Alice Springs should’ve been in a lockdown [by Sunday morning],” she said.

“But we would like to thank the police and the SES. They are doing a really fantastic job.

Police and volunteers search grassland

Maxine Carlton hopes the search will deliver “good news” soon. (ABC News: Will Green)

“We hope there’s good news in the near future.”

Sergeant Hall said the wider Alice Springs community could help by keeping their eyes open.

“The biggest thing the community can do at this stage is [be the] eyes and ears,” he said.

“Anything they see, anything they hear, no matter how minor they think it might be, it could be that relevant small bit of information which could … lead us to successfully locating young Sharon.”