No reason to believe Nevaeh's dead

MONROE, Mich. - Task force officials aggressively searching for Nevaeh Buchanan, the 5-year-old Monroe, Mich., girl abducted Sunday evening, said Thursday they have no reason to believe she has died despite finding new evidence in a registered sex offender's apartment, police said.

"We have no indication that she is not still alive," Monroe County Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield said.

Although it's been an expensive search process, Sheriff Crutchfield said you can't put a price on life.

Two quarries located on Dixie Highway in Monroe were searched by four Metro Detroit and Downriver dive teams Wednesday with no results.

"We searched the entire length and depth of each quarry with negative results," the sheriff said.

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AMBER ALERT

Active AMBER Alerts
National Center for Missing Exploited Children Web site

 

Name: Nevaeh (nuh-VAY-uh) Amyah Buchanan
Age: 5
Height: 3-foot-8-inches
Weight: 45 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Clothing: Red, white and blue striped shirt, knee length blue jeans.

If you have information, call 9-1-1 or (734) 243-7070

 

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On Tuesday, police obtained a search warrant and searched a room at the Motel 7 on South Dixie Highway that has been occupied by George Kennedy, a person of interest who family says was the boyfriend of Nevaeh's mother.

Kennedy, a convicted sex offender, is currently being held on an unrelated parole violation, police said.

On Wednesday, blood-stained shorts and towels were found in the room, putting the public's radar on Kennedy as a prime suspect. But FBI agent Edward Hanko said presumptions and rumors will only hurt the case.

"Rumors and innuendo are never helpful for anyone, and I'm sure the family is feeling some type of anguish obviously with the loss of their daughter and with people coming to conclusions on their own based on the limited information they get," Agent Hanko said.

Search warrants myFOXDetroit.com reportedly viewed Wednesday, claim two kids saw Nevaeh enter the woods. One child said they saw her stabbed.

Authorities said they're fast-tracking the processing of all evidence with the Michigan State Police crime lab and the next step is more questioning.

"We continue to stress the focus is not solely on persons of interest - we are still soliciting any and all information that the public has," Sheriff Crutchfield said.

The FOX Detroit affiliate reported that the task force interviewed a second person of interest - 48-year-old Roy Smith of Monroe, who is also a convicted sex offender and an acquaintance of Nevaeh's mother. Smith was picked up on an undisclosed parole violation earlier in the week.

Despite the fact that no charges or arrests have been made regarding Nevaeh abduction, Agent Hanko, assigned to the case, describes the investigation as going well.

Danko is working with 70 other FBI agents and law enforcement officers from Monroe Police, the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, and Michigan State Police, is following the more than 200 leads received through the (734) 243-7070 tip line.

Sheriff Crutchfield said investigators are conducting additional interviews at the Charlotte Arms Apartments, where Nevaeh was last seen Sunday. All 180 units in the apartment already had been searched, but police and FBI were back canvassing it on Thursday.

"Somebody is not talking," said Shaun Lawson, a relative of Nevaeh's family. "I mean, she came up missing from that area. We got all these apartments facing that particular area."

Lawson said with all the questions, the rumors, and the media around, the everyone in the complex is under a lot of stress.

He said children always used to play right outside.

"And now as you can see, you go up and down the street, you won't see a kid around," Lawson said.

The Salvation Army of Monroe County said Thursday its Emergency Disaster Services team is providing support to response teams and volunteers as the search continues for Nevaeh.

The team plans to serve between 200-300 meals a day out of the Monroe County Emergency Operations Center, but the Salvation Army is asking for food and beverage donations from the community. You are asked to drop off your donations to the county operations center, located at 987 S. Raisinville Rd.

Kimmie Zapf, a popular regional radio psychic from Bedford Township, Mich., is hoping to meet with the family sometime Friday and help in locating the missing girl.

Thursday evening volunteers searched an area off of Elm Avenue for the little girl.

"It kills me at night just to know that this little girl is still missing," said Danny Johnson, a search volunteer. "I hate it, I hate it more than anything. I want to do anything I can do to help find this little girl ... to help ease the family's soul. It just bothers me."

Late morning Friday, a much larger search effort is planned. A church group from Ann Arbor and another group from Toledo, along with volunteers from Monroe, are expected to meet up between 11 a.m. and noon.

Nevaeh's family has been asked by police to no longer