At an unplanned tribute for Wynter Cole-Smith, 2, Terra Hosea of Roseville, Michigan, together with her daughters Kenadi Agustas and Kanarie Hosea, right, add balloons and plush animals. (Photo: CNN)
WYNTER COLE-SMITH, THE MISSING TODDLER FROM MICHIGAN, FOUND DEAD
When the attack occurred, the missing toddler and her younger brother were at home with their mother. A federal criminal complaint claims that the girl’s teenage mother and her ex-boyfriend were fighting over money.
According to the court document, the disagreement became more heated and the mother stabbed the boy to protect herself. Then, the affidavit claims, he repeatedly stabbed her late Sunday in her Lansing apartment.
She was able to escape, get to her mother’s house, and contact the police. The complaint claims that she did, however, abandon her two kids, the younger boy and the missing toddler.
According to the agency, her 1-year-old son was quickly located inside the flat unharmed.
Wynter Cole-Smith, the missing toddler, the boy’s 2-year-old big sister, who was wearing a white T-shirt with rainbows and had her hair pulled back into braids, was missing.
Wednesday at Lansing City Hall, Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee and FBI Supervisory Special Resident Agent Mark Civiletto declare, “This is not the result anyone hoped for.” (Photo: CNN)
In order to help with their hunt for Wynter, the missing toddler, and the suspect Rashad Maleek Trice, who may be driving a white 2013 Chevy Impala, Lansing Police issued an AMBER Alert early on Monday. They pounded cell phones, radios, TVs, and road signs with the alert.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children states that these alerts “are usually resolved within hours.”
And certainly, Trice, the primary suspect of the missing toddler case, was discovered by a policeman on Monday soon before daybreak. He was apprehended after attempting to seize an officer’s gun, according to the federal complaint, after crashing his stolen Impala into a police car in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, about 90 miles from Lansing.
The FBI and other agencies, together with the Lansing police, knocked on doors and used search dogs. At a news conference on Tuesday, Chief Ellery Sosebee said they requested doorbell surveillance videos from random people, used drones and helicopters equipped with heat-signature technology, and even brought in a diving team.
The pink mobile phone charging wire that was discovered next to the body of the missing toddler, according to the federal court papers, led authorities to the conclusion that the missing toddler had most likely been strangled. According to the lawsuit, the charging cord matched the pink cord components found in the car.
In the criminal complaint, an FBI agent claims that they discovered the body of the missing toddler on Wednesday as a result of cell phone data, information from car plate readers, and security footage.
