Body of Kidnapped Toddler Wynter Smith Found in Michigan

Michigan police said on Wednesday that they believe they have found the body of a 2-year-old who was missing for days. 

In a press conference, officers with the Lansing Police Department and FBI agents said Wynter Cole Smith’s body was found in an alley in Detroit, nearly 100 miles from her Lansing, Michigan, home.

Police said she was kidnapped by a man accused of stabbing her mother. Rashad Trice, 26, was arrested on Monday, a day after Smith went missing. At the time of his arrest, the FBI said the child was still missing and issued a $25,000 reward for any tips that might help investigators find her. 

Smith was not with Trice when he was arrested, and police interviewed him about her whereabouts. 

After a three-day search, her body turned up.

"At approximately 6:50 p.m. [on Wednesday], the body of Wynter Cole Smith was recovered by FBI agents. This is not the outcome that we were hoping for," FBI Acting Special Agent Devin Kowalski said at the conference. "And our hearts go out to Wynter's family.”

Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee said he was “deeply saddened” to announce that the search for Smith has ended and that the police are now investigating it as a homicide. 

“This is not the outcome anyone hoped for,” he said. “But I promise law enforcement will see the family gets the justice that they so deserve."

Kowalski added that investigators are collecting evidence and conducting a “thorough and deliberate crime scene investigation” to “bring the person responsible to justice.”

Trice has been arraigned on several charges, including home invasion, unlawful imprisonment, and domestic violence.