FBI in Desperate Search for Abducted Michigan 2-Year-Old.
In a desperate plea for help Wednesday, the mother and father of toddler Wynter Cole Smith, whose Amber Alert this week triggered a groundswell of support and concern, said they were hopeful searches would turn up clues — or better yet, their daughter.
"We just want to find her," Wynter's dad, Almount Smith, told the Free Press. Her mom, Symari Cole, was nearby.
The parents invited the public to join a sweep for the child by volunteers in Lathrup Village — an Oakland County suburb where law enforcement suspect the 26-year-old man, Rashad Trice, may have once lived and took the toddler, before he was arrested Monday in St. Clair Shores.
Now, Wynter's loved ones, investigators and others are racing against the clock to find the missing 2-year-old who police said was wearing a T-shirt with a rainbow when she appeared to have been abducted from her Lansing home. There's also some concern the little girl may no longer be in Michigan.
"Wynter could be anywhere," said Derrica Wilson, co-founder of Black and Missing Foundation, a national nonprofit organization which aims to is to bring awareness to missing persons of color. "Just because she's missing from Michigan doesn't mean she's still in Michigan."
Meanwhile, Trice — who police said had attacked Cole, 22, before he might have left with the child — was charged with assault with intent to murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree home invasion, unlawful imprisonment, second offense aggravated domestic violence, unlawful driving away and felonious assault.
Police, groups search various areas
Police searched roadway shoulders and wooded areas Wednesday in Lansing, as volunteer groups tried to organize searches in metro Detroit — Lathrup Village, Southfield, Detroit, and St. Clair Shores — where authorities believe Wynter may have been taken.
By about 2 p.m., TV trucks were parked in front of Wynter's home, in the 3000 block of BeauJardin Drive, hoping to interview Cole, who police said Trice, her ex-boyfriend, had stabbed several times. She had been taken to the hospital, treated and released.
Outside her apartment, there were lawn chairs and toys.
Police said, Trice likely left with the toddler in a stolen car, a white, 2013 Chevrolet Impala.
"We just want Wynter home safe," Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee and FBI Acting Special Agent Devin Kowalski said Tuesday, during the holiday, in a joint news conference at Lansing City Hall as they sought information and updated the public about what they were doing.
Law enforcement upped the reward Tuesday to $25,000 for information leading to Wynter's whereabouts — and looked for Wynter's tiny body using specially trained dogs, police helicopters and aerial drones. The community searches, they hoped, might uncover more clues — or anything that could help.
How the investigation unfolded
Swift action, experts have said, is essential.
More than 50 people We
