LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — A family is desperate to find a 2-year-old girl who was abducted in the city of Lansing early Monday morning.
Wynter Cole Smith is described as a 2-year-old Black girl with braided shoulder-length hair. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with rainbows.
Police said they were called to a home on Sunday and found her 22-year-old mother reportedly stabbed by Rashad Malak Trice.
Police said the mother and Trice had a previous relationship together. The paternal grandmother of Wynter says the two have a 1-year-old child together. The child Trice allegedly took was not his own child.
The suspect was spotted in Detroit and arrested in St. Clair Shores around 6 a.m. Monday. He was allegedly driving Wynter's mother's white 2013 Chevrolet Impala.
He was taken into custody after initially fleeing and resisting officers on the scene.
Lansing police released the route they believe Trice took to St. Clair Shores. They believe he started along I-96 from Lansing to Detroit, then I-94 to St. Clair shores. Anyone who saw Trice and Wynter along that route is urged to call the FBI immediately at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
According to police and the FBI, Wynter’s mother is in stable condition.
Late into the evening Monday, the search was still on near the Lansing apartment where the toddler was last seen. A dive team searched the water, drones hovered in the sky and deputies combed the area on foot. Wynter was still missing as of Monday night.
“I think I had to see it for myself. They did drone, helicopter, divers — I didn't know this stuff at first,” Wynter’s grandmother Sharen Eddings said.
Eddings drove with family to Lansing from Detroit wanting to help in the search.
Eddings son Ajay Smith, who is Wynter’s father, is a football player at UT Martin Tennessee. He was on his way to Detroit Monday night to help with the search. He zoomed with 7 Action News from the Nashville airport wanting nothing more than to hold his daughter safe and sound.
“Ever since last night, I couldn't sleep,” Smith said. “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.”
The FBI is leading the case with help from multiple police departments.
It’s unclear where Wynter might be, but law enforcement is exhausting every avenue. Wynter’s family isn’t giving up.
“I just want to tell everybody stay faithful, don't give up, we've seen miracles,” Eddings said.
The FBI is warning that anyone helping to hide Wynter could face serious charges.
Police are asking anyone who sees her or anyone with information on where she might be to call the Lansing Police Department at 517-483-4600, Crime Stoppers at 517-483-7867 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI and tips.fbi.gov.
