DETROIT – Wynter Cole Smith, 2, went missing from mid-Michigan on Sunday, July 2.
Rashad Maleek Trice, 26, of Detroit, was accused all along of being the one who abducted Wynter from her Lansing home late that night.
Trice was listed on the Amber Alert on Monday morning, with police believing he had attacked his ex-girlfriend -- Wynter’s mother -- before stealing her car and using it to flee the scene with her daughter.
But when Trice was arrested Monday morning in St. Clair Shores, Wynter was not with him, so he wasn’t charged in connection with her disappearance or death.
Wynter was missing for nearly three full days before Detroit police found her body in an alley around 6:50 p.m. on Wednesday, July 5.
Local 4 has exclusive video of how police tracked down Trice and searched his car. Watch the Local 4 Investigation Monday, July 10 on Local 4 News at 5 p.m., and streaming on Local 4+.
More: Wynter Cole Smith case: Everything we know from Amber Alert to discovery of body to criminal charges