The grandmother of a missing toddler has opened up about the frantic search for the little girl after she was allegedly abducted by her mother’s ex-boyfriend.
The FBI has offered $25,000 for information regarding the whereabouts of two-year-old Wynter Smith, who was last seen on Sunday night. The Lansing Police Department said in a statement earlier this week that 26-year-old Rashad Trice is in custody for allegedly stabbing Wynter’s mother — his ex-girlfriend — before abducting the minor.
Wynter’s mother has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering from the injuries she sustained after Mr Trice showed up at her home. Mr Trice, who had allegedly threatened to harm Wynter, then drove from Lansing to the neighbouring city of St Clair Shores, where he was arrested on Monday.
But more than 48 hours after Wynter was last seen, authorities have yet to find her. Wynter’s maternal grandmother Willeen Cannon described the past days as torture, with the family becoming increasingly anxious for answers.
“Wynter is just a bundle of love and joy... She’s just like a little angel. She brings the brightest light ever for a kid,” Ms Cannon told Fox 17. “We’re all devastated ... It’s hard day by day moving on without this child, knowing that she’s missing and we don’t know what’s happening to her, if anything.”
“It’s torturing, you know? It’s mentally torturing,” she added. “We can’t move on like this for much longer. We need to bring this child home.”
Mr Trice has reportedly refused to cooperate in the investigation into Wynter’s abduction. On Tuesday, the FBI released a map of the route they believed Mr Trice had taken with Wynter in her mother’s stolen white 2013 Chevrolet Impala between 11.15pm and 1am on the night she disappeared.
After Mr Trice allegedly stabbed Wynter’s mother, the woman escaped the house to call 911 before returning to find her daughter and car missing, police said. Officers found Wynter’s one-year-old brother unharmed in the apartment.
Wynter Cole Smith, 2, is still missing after she was allegedly abducted by her mother’s ex-partner Rashad Trice— (Lansing Police Department)
After an Amber Alert was issued, St Clair Police said they saw the missing Impala at around 4.45am on Monday morning, about 100 miles south of Lansing. When they tried to stop the vehicle, Mr Trice allegedly sped off before crashing into a patrol car.
An officer who was in the car was treated for injuries before being discharged from the hospital. Mr Trice resisted arrest and was treated in hospital for unspecified injuries, police said.
A huge search effort involving multiple law enforcement agencies and the FBI continued on Wednesday. Police dive teams have combed waterways near Wynter’s Lansing home, drones hovered in the sky and deputies conducted door-to-door searches.
Police in Lansing arrested Rashad Maleek Trice in connection with the kidnapping of missing toddler Wynter Smith— (Lansing Police Department)
Family members including Wynter’s father Ajay Smith, a football player at the University of Tennessee, joined the police search.
Mr Smith told ABC affiliate WXYZ he hadn’t been able to sleep since hearing his daughter was missing.
“Wynter is an amazing daughter. She’s smart, she can count all the way to 40, she can say her ABCs, she can say some of them backwards,” he said.
In a statement, the FBI’s Detroit office said it was providing investigative, intelligence, technical, and forensic resources across Michigan to support the search.
Police in Lansing, Michigan, have issued an Amber Alert for Wynter— (Lansing Police Department)
It warned that anyone helping to hide the missing toddler could face serious charges.
Wynter is described as having braided shoulder-length hair and was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with rainbows.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Lansing Police Department at 517-483-4600, Crime Stoppers at 517-483-7867, or the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
