Editor’s Note: Here is the latest update to the Missing Cayce Girl story.
The search for a 6-year-old girl from Cayce, South Carolina who was reported missing Monday afternoon continues today after more than 100 law enforcement officials searched throughout the night, officials said in a Tuesday morning press conference
Faye Marie Swetlik was last seen wearing polka dot boots, a skirt and a black t-shirt in the Churchill Heights Neighborhood around 3:44 p.m. Monday, according to police. Residents in the area can expect a large presence of law enforcement who are canvassing the neighborhood and passing out flyers Tuesday morning.
FBI and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) officials are assisting Cayce officials in the investigation. SLED officials have sent regional investigative agents, a tracking team including bloodhounds, and an aviation unit to search for the missing girl, according to sources.
More than 100 law enforcement officers and public safety personnel assisted in the search overnight and two dozen community members helped in the search overnight. As of Tuesday morning, law enforcement was not asking for volunteers to search.
Cayce officials said in a Tuesday morning press conference that residents in the Churchill Heights Neighborhood will be stopped as they go in and out of the subdivision today.
In a Tuesday morning Facebook post, Cayce Department of Public Safety officials asked anyone in the Churchill Heights community to contact the police if they have any surveillance systems such as Ring that could have captured activities in the neighborhood yesterday afternoon.
Officials have a new hotline for the case at (803)-205-4444. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact them immediately.
Sgt. Evan Antley of the Cayce Department of Public Safety urged the public to continue to share Faye’s photo and information on social media.
“We’re hoping for a safe return,” Antley said. “We want you to share our message on social media. Talk to your family and people in your neighborhood. We want to keep this girl’s name circulating and get that information out as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Faye is a first grader at Springdale Elementary School in West Columbia. She has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a speech impediment and is lactose intolerant.
She was reportedly last seen playing outside of her home on Londonderry Lane in Cayce — about two miles from the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Antley said she rode the bus home yesterday and arrived at her home “like any other day.”
“At some point, her family lost track of her,” Antley said in the press conference.
He said it’s a “tight-knit community” and it’s “not odd” for children to be outside playing.
Police were contacted about an hour later. Faye’s mother reported her missing.
“Anything is a possibility at this point,” Antley said. “We’re exhausting every resource we have and then some. We are doing everything we have to get this girl home.”
According to WLTX, all family members have been contacted and none of them have seen the child.
An AMBER Alert has not been issued as of Tuesday morning.
In South Carolina, SLED has very specific criteria for activating an AMBER alert, based on the Department of Justice guidelines. According to its website, an AMBER Alert is issued when an abduction is reported and the investigation reveals all of the following qualifications:
- “The law enforcement agency believes that the child has been abducted: taken from their environment unlawfully, without authority of law, and without permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian.
- The child is 17 years old or younger, and the law enforcement agency believes the child is in immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death; or if the individual is 18 years old or older, and the law enforcement agency believes the individual is at greater risk for immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death because the individual possesses a proven physical or mental disability.
- All other possibilities for the victim’s disappearance have been reasonably excluded.
- There is sufficient information available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the victim, suspect, or vehicle used in the abduction.
- The child’s name and other critical data have been entered into NCIC.”
If one of the above qualifications is not met, an AMBER alert will not be activated.
The story made national news Tuesday morning.
This story will be updated.
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