The FBI on Tuesday announced a $25,000 reward for tips to find a 2-year-old girl authorities said was kidnapped two days earlier by a man accused of stabbing her mother.
During a press conference at Lansing City Hall, Acting Special Agent in Charge Devin Kowalski of the bureau's Michigan office stressed the community is critical to helping solve the case as investigators continue their "relentless, around the clock" work.
"We need you," he said.
Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee vowed his agency and multiple partners would "stay the course" in the search effort stretching from the state Capitol to Metro Detroit: "We will not give up," he said. "We want Wynter home with her family."
Authorities also urge anyone with information about Wynter's whereabouts to call the FBI tip line at 1 (800) CALL-FBI or go to tips.fbi.gov.
"There are many agencies and multiple teams working together in Lansing, in Detroit and everywhere in between to follow up on all and every new piece of information that we get," Sosebee said.
Wynter has braided shoulder-length hair and was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with rainbows on it. Michigan State Police said Monday that investigators believe Wynter, whose disappearance sparked an Amber Alert, could be in Metro Detroit.
The FBI has been involved since the beginning of the probe and is "bringing every resource we have" to help in the case, Kowalski said. "There is no higher priority for us than to support the Lansing Police Department in locating Wynter."
Rashad Trice, 26, the man accused of stabbing Wynter's mother, was arrested in St. Clair Shores early Monday, according to authorities. Investigators said Trice and Wynter's mother had a relationship.
Lansing police officers were called at about 11:20 p.m. Sunday to a home in the 3000 block of Beau Jardin Drive near Jolly Road and Interstate 496. They found Wynter's mother with stab wounds and signs of physical assault. The woman told officers she had been stabbed by Trice and that he had taken her 2-year-old daughter.
The mother had been hospitalized in stable condition but has since been released, Sosebee said Tuesday.
Officials said they believe Trice traveled east on Interstate 96 from Lansing into Detroit and then got on east Interstate 94 until he exited the freeway in St. Clair Shores.
"This is an the approximate route based on information that we've received since this incident started," Sosebee said Tuesday. "If you have any security cameras or Ring doorbells, please check your systems. If you travel the approximate route, please keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. If you own any property or work on any property close to the route, please take some time to look around and call if you see anything out of place or unusual."
Trice remains hospitalized under police supervision and is expected to be sent to Ingham County once cleared, Sosebee said. Police are continuing to interview him, the chief said.
Meanwhile, in a quest for clues leading to Wynter, authorities "have searched the area of the incident using door to door canvasses, canine searches, drones, multiple helicopter searches with heat signature technology and our dive team ... with no success so far," Sosebee said. "Our partner teams in Detroit have investigated known associates who frequent addresses related to the accused."
The chief also had a warning.
"Please be cautious on spreading misinformation about this investigation," he said. "That’s only harmful and sets us back in our efforts. Furthermore, if anybody has knowledge of Wynter's whereabouts and chooses not to come forward by choice, you will be charged appropriately."
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