Kamille McKinney was outside with friends when she vanished about 8:30 p.m. Saturday from the Tom Brown Village public housing community in Avondale, police said.
The search is on for a 3-year-old girl who was abducted from an Alabama birthday party, as police interview a couple they have called two persons of interest.
Kamille McKinney was outside playing with friends when she vanished about 8:30 p.m. Saturday from the Tom Brown Village public housing community in Avondale, police said.
Loved ones called police and rushed to the area to search for Kamille, known by her family as “Cupcake.”
“She’s scared, she’s lonely, she doesn’t know what’s going on,“ Kamille’s father, Dominic McKinney, told AL.com. “She’s just a baby.”
An Amber Alert was issued and authorities released images taken by surveillance cameras of a man they said may have been one of the two adults believed to have abducted Kamille. They also released images of a dark-colored Toyota Sequoia they believed the persons of interest were traveling in.
Birmingham police and Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies on Sunday took the man they said was depicted in the surveillance photos into police custody and recovered a Toyota Sequoia at the Woodside Condominiums on Shadowood Circle off Roebuck Parkway across from the Cathedral of the Cross, AL.com reported.
The man’s girlfriend was also taken into police custody, authorities said. Police have called the pair persons of interest.
The couple’s detainment came after two condominium residents discussed the possibility that their neighbor was the man depicted in the photos released by police. They also reportedly agreed that an SUV parked outside the building looked like the vehicle police said the persons of interest were traveling in.
“We both called 911,” one of the residents, Ricardo McGhee, told the news site. “It wasn’t just me.”
As of Monday, Kamille remained missing.
“I feel a little better that they got him but the search goes on because Cupcake still isn’t home,'' McKinney, 27, said Sunday. “We’re still not stopping. I feel better that they caught him, I do, but until I see that baby, they can catch him all day.”
McKinney said he searched abandoned buildings and schools in the area of the Tom Brown Village overnight for any signs of his daughter.
“We’re going to pray and we’re going to hope for the best,” he said. “We’re going to find her if that’s the last thing I do on this earth.”
Birmingham police said they have been in contact with the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service and have dedicated all available resources to their search for Kamille. Agencies assisting Birmingham police include the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency and the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children.
Authorities have asked anyone in the area the night Kamille was abducted to contact investigators, as they may have seen something without realizing its significance. They have also asked anyone with surveillance cameras to contact police.
“We’re trying to make sure we get this child back to her family,” Birmingham police Deputy Chief Scott Praytor told AL.com. “We’re pulling out all the stops to find out what happened to Kamille. … It’s imperative that we find this child.”
Kamille stands 3 feet tall and weighs 60 pounds. She has brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing a pink t-shirt with a Minnie Mouse and leopard print design, leopard print shorts and yellow, white and blue hair bows. She may be barefoot, as her shoes were found in the parking lot.
Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police’s tip line at 205-297-8413 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
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