Pray for Nevaeh's safe return!
Nevaeh's mother was friends with a registered sex offender.
www.clickondetroit.com/news/19578836/detail.html QUOTE:
Hundreds Search For Missing Girl, 5
Man In Custody On Unrelated Charges
UPDATED: 12:32 pm EDT May 27, 2009
MONROE, Mich. -- More than 100 investigators and law enforcement staff members are searching for a 5-year-old Monroe girl who went missing Sunday evening.
The FBI, state police and other law enforcement officials have joined the investigation, along with dozens of volunteers who have organized private searches.
In a somber news conference Wednesday, FBI agents acknowledged that the odds of finding a missing child alive dwindle as the hours pass.
Nevaeh Buchanan was last seen at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Macomb Street in Frenchtown, 40 miles south of Detroit.
The Amber Alert was issued a few hours later.
Slideshow:Nevaeh Buchanan
Jennifer Buchanan told Local 4 her daughter lives with her and her mother and on Sunday evening, Nevaeh was outside playing with a friend. The girl's mother said a friend came into her home and told her she couldn't find Nevaeh. The child was last seen playing with her scooter.
Buchanan said when she went outside, the girl was gone. Police found her scooter in the parking lot of the apartment complex.
"We need to speak with anyone who has specific knowledge of any of the events that occurred in the complex during the hours of 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.," said Monroe Lt. Todd Opperman.
A man who has reportedly had a relationship with the girl's mother is in custody on unrelated charges.
Family members said George Kennedy, 39, has been dating Buchanan. But Buchanan denies that she dated Kennedy and said they have been friends for several years. She said she knew he had a criminal record and is on the sex offender list.
In 2002, Kennedy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for home invasion and third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was released in 2007 and remains on parole until July 2009.
Police said Kennedy is being detained because he allegedly violated the terms of his parole by having a relationship with a woman who has a child under the age of 17.
He is not being called a suspect in the case.
Lead FBI Agent Andy Arena said investigators have seized "a number of pieces" of potential evidence and sent them to a crime lab since the girls' disappearance. He would not say what the pieces were or who has been questioned in connection with the case.
However, published reports have said that a bloody fishing knife was found in Kennedy's motel room.
Officials would not comment on the alleged find Wednesday.
Buchanan's brother, Michael Buchanan, told Local 4 he knew Kennedy was a sex offender and he used to fight with his sister about letting him around his niece.
"Other than that, it's like Jenny is an adult. What can I really say?" said Michael Buchanan.
Another man, who was described only as a transient was also questioned in the case. He was released Tuesday afternoon.
"If anybody has her and she's still alive, just bring her back to me," said Nevaeh's grandma, Sherry Buchanan. "That's all I ask of you and I won't ask any questions. I just want to hold her and keep her near to me, and if she's not, let me lay her down and be peaceful with the good Lord up above."
Search Intensifies
Police searched inside all 180 units of the apartment complex Sunday night and continue to search for the girl Wednesday.
Investigators have extensively searched a field around the complex and have now focused their search around two quarries in Monroe.
One of the quarries being combed is near the motel where Kennedy has been living.
Friends and family members have organized their own search teams around town.
A private investigator organized a search effort Tuesday evening. Crowds gathered at the Kmart on North Monroe Street before spreading out.
"We want to do something to help this little girl," said Jim Duvall, of the investigation company Duvall Group.
A private group is offering a $2,500 reward. Investigators have received over 200 tips.
"I've been up all hours of the night. I've searched woods, ditches, canals, Dumpsters and through the whole county," said the Buchanans' cousin Shahn Lawson.
Nevaeh Buchanan is 3 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 45 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a red, white and blue shirt and denim short. Her mother said she did not have on socks or shoes.
Police believe she was abducted and is in extreme danger.
Jennifer Buchanan said she is sure that someone snatched her daughter.
"Almost 100 percent sure she got snatched. I know she would have put up some kind of fight because she is loud. I think someone put a hand over her mouth, took her in the back," she said.
Fighting back tears, Jennifer Buchanan said she is sick to her stomach to even think about what could have come after that.
"Just bring her home. Take me in her place. Do whatever you have to do to me," Lawson pleaded to a Local 4 camera.
If you have any information, call 911 or the Monroe County Sheriff at 734-243-7070.
Stay with Local 4 and ClickOnDetroit.com for the latest.