Police revealed they are questioning two suspects in the disappearance of the Alabama toddler who was abducted from a birthday party Saturday night – and an Amber Alert for her will be expanded to neighboring states.
Kamille McKinney, also known as ‘Cupcake’, was snatched and pulled into a dark SUV from outside a public housing community in Birmingham on Saturday at around 8.30pm and a state-wide Amber Alert was issued that same night.
On Monday Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith announced that authorities have two persons of interest in custody who are being questioned by detectives.
He said there’s no immediate connection to the persons of interest and Kamille’s family, and he believes there are more suspects involved in her kidnapping.
He said authorities still have no leads on the toddler’s whereabouts.
Birmingham Police have two suspects in custody over the kidnapping of three-year-old Kamille ‘Cupcake’ McKinney, cops announced at a Monday press conference
On Monday Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith announced that authorities have two persons of interest in custody who are being questioned by detectives, and they don’t appear to have an immediate connection to her family
‘We definitely remain hopeful that shes still out there and alive and we’ll get her back to her family,’ Smith said Monday alongside Mayor Randall Woodfin (right)
He added that the Amber Alert will be expanded to cover surrounding states and authorities aren’t sure if the toddler is still in Birmingham or in Alabama.
‘We will not end our command post our our search until we’ve found some resolution. We are going to stay committed to locating the three-year-old baby,’ Police Chief Smith said in Monday’s press conference. ‘This is something that doesn’t affect just one community, this affects the entire city. The entire state. And I think everybody wants this young baby to be found and brought back home.’
He said that the suspects in custody are answering questions.
‘We definitely remain hopeful that shes still out there and alive and we’ll get her back to her family,’ Smith added.
Authorities also revealed that Kamille’s family delayed in reporting her missing, but he didn’t specify why, adding parents often delay reporting missing persons thinking they can locate them on their own.
Police initially said a white woman and a black man were suspected of snatching Kamille. They believe the couple were using candy to entice children.
The search for Kamille saw a breakthrough on Sunday when police detained a man suspected of snatching the toddler at around 8pm.
Police have detained a man suspected of snatching three-year-old Kamille McKinney from a birthday party in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday as they continue the search for the missing toddler
Police said a white woman and a black man were suspected of snatching Kamille. Authorities released surveillance images of the male suspect and the SUV they were believed to be traveling in
Cops released surveillance images of the man and the vehicle he was driving – a Toyota Sequoia – and later recovered the vehicle and found that man and brought him in for questioning, after locating him at Woodside Condominiums on Shadowood Circle.
Cops arrived at the scene after a person spotted the vehicle outside the Woodside Condominiums and alerted authorities. The condominiums are about 10 miles from the area where Kamille was abducted.
Authorities said they feared Kamille was in extreme danger.
The toddler’s father, Dominic McKinney, told AL.com that he was relieved the suspect had been caught but would not rest until his daughter was found safe.
The man was detained for questioning on Sunday night after a person spotted the vehicle outside the Woodside Condominiums and alerted authorities
‘I feel a little better that they got him but the search goes on because Cupcake still isn’t home,” he said.
An Amber Alert was issued for the toddler, whose family calls her ‘Cupcake’, after someone in a dark SUV grabbed her while she was outside the home with friends and then drove away
‘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. We will find her tonight.’
Earlier, McKinney had made a desperate plea for his daughter’s return.
‘I mean she’s three, man. She’s innocent. I just want my baby back at the end of the day like anybody else would,’ he said to WBRC.
‘I just want my daughter back. I’ll pay anything, I’ll put up anything,’ he said.
‘Everybody knows Cupcake and I’ll do anything to bring that baby back home.
‘She’s scared, she’s lonely, she doesn’t know what’s going on. She’s just a baby. Whatever the situation is, whatever they’ve got going on, it don’t concern her.’
McKinney has his daughter’s nickname tattooed on his arm along with a picture of a cupcake.
The toddler’s father, Dominic McKinney, told AL.com that he relieved the suspect had been caught but would not rest until his daughter was found safe
‘I mean she’s three, man. She’s innocent. I just want my baby back at the end of the day like anybody else would,’ Kamille’s father said
Although cops haven’t found an immediate connection to the persons of interest currently in custody to Kamille’s family – her father says she wouldn’t get into a car with a stranger.
‘She’s just a pretty little girl with the prettiest eyes. She ain’t the girl that’s going to get in the car with just anybody,’ he said.
The Amber Alert for Kamille says she is three feet tall and weighs 60 pounds.
At the time she was taken, Kamille was wearing a pink Minnie Mouse T-shirt and had yellow, white and blue bows in her hair.
Birmingham Deputy Chief Scott Praytor said investigators were asking any homes or businesses in the Avondale area near the Tom Brown Village public housing complex to share surveillance camera footage with police.
Praytor said there was no indication the kidnapping is an issue over child custody.