DETROIT – The body of missing 2-year-old girl Wynter Cole Smith has been found in an alley nearly three days after her kidnapping in Lansing prompted an Amber Alert.
Officials believe Wynter was abducted by Rashad Maleek Trice, 26, late Sunday night after he stabbed and sexually assaulted her 22-year-old mother.
An Amber Alert was issued early Monday morning, and St. Clair Shores police spotted Trice driving the mother’s stolen Chevrolet Impala. He was arrested after a short chase and a crash, but Wynter was nowhere to be found.
FBI agents and officers from police departments between Lansing and Detroit spent days investigating her disappearance. They determined a tentative route Trice took from Lansing to St. Clair Shores, and prioritized searches in those areas.
On Wednesday night, Detroit police officers said they found Wynter’s body in an overgrown alley near Olympia Street and Erwin Avenue on the city’s east side.
The discovery was made while officers conducted a grid search from I-94 to Van Dyke Avenue.
Charges were issued against Trice earlier in the day Wednesday for the attack on Wynter’s mother, who is his ex-girlfriend, according to authorities.
He is charged with assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, unlawful imprisonment, aggravated domestic violence (second offense), unlawful driving away of an automobile, felonious assault, and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault.
Officials said he could face charges linked to Wynter’s disappearance after that investigation concluded.
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