Video shows missing 6-year-old South Carolina girl getting off school bus an hour before her disappearance
A video of a missing six-year-old who disappeared from her front lawn on Monday has been released by South Carolina authorities, showing the child getting off a school bus just an hour before she was last seen outside her home.
The Cayce Department of Public Safety released the video on Wednesday morning as they announced that they had expanded their search for Faye. The little girl, in the clip, can be seen getting out of her seat and speaking to the bus driver before getting off the vehicle. Police are also looking for more information on two unidentified vehicles that briefly stopped near her house.
The first-grader, identified as Faye Swetlik, was last spotted on February 10 around 3.45 pm after she got off from her school bus and was playing in front of her home. Faye, who has been missing for more than 40 hours, lives with her mother in Londonderry Square, Cayce. The missing report was filed by her family around 5 pm the same day.
Authorities, initially, had said that the focus of their search was centered around the Churchill Heights neighborhood where Faye lived. However, during a press conference on Wednesday, said that the search area has been expanded, and will now include part of the highway and the surrounding area of the neighborhood.
Officials said that they have not yet found any evidence of abduction, and are considering that it is likely that she walked away somewhere on her own. Her family, however, in a desperate search for their child, released a statement, saying: "Faye is a bubbly and happy little girl" who "always wants to play and have fun. She's not the type of kid that will just get up and walk away."
No amber alert has been issued in the case yet as officers have not ruled out all the other possibilities of her disappearance. The alert is usually issued after a law enforcement agency believes that the child has been abducted or is in immediate danger or serious harm.
Cayce Department of Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove, on Tuesday, said that Faye's mother, father and Faye's mother's boyfriend are all cooperating with the police. Reports state that state and federal agencies have also gotten involved in the child's search. "Her parents are anxiously awaiting her return," Snellgrove said.
"We’ve not ruled anything out," he added. "We’re not sure that she hasn’t just walked off and is somewhere in the woods or at a neighbor’s house. Possibly in distress or fallen or something like that," Live5news reported. FBI agents were seen on February 11 going through where Faye was last seen, reports state.
Authorities have asked local residents to check their surveillance cameras and see whether they have some information that could assist the investigation. The child, who has shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, was last seen wearing a black shirt with the word 'peace' written on the front. She’s 3-feet-10-inches tall and weighs about 65 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Cayce Department of Public Safety at 803-205-4444.