Ohio Amber Alert: Missing 5-year-old from Columbus feared in danger; empty car found near Cleveland
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Police in Columbus are concerned about the safety of a 5-year-old who was the subject Wednesday morning of an Amber Alert and remains missing.
The vehicle from the alert has been located, nearly 150 miles away outside Cleveland, but both the child and his suspected abductor -- 5-year-old Darnell Taylor and 48-year-old Pammy Maye -- were not inside. Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant urged anyone with information to come forward.
"Any information you may have, no matter how minute or small you think it may be, that could help us locate Darnell Taylor or Pammy Maye," Bryant said. "Please call us. We're trying to bring this to a resolution. Again, we believe that this child is in danger."
The Amber Alert was issued at 5:10 a.m. after Maye allegedly took Taylor from a south Columbus home in the 900 block of Reeb Avenue. The statewide notice said the abduction took place at around 3:50 a.m., though Columbus police later said it happened shortly after 3 a.m.
The vehicle was then found about 6 a.m. in Brooklyn, a suburb south of Cleveland. Police located the car after receiving a hit from a license plate reader, finding it at an apartment complex on Memphis Avenue and towing it back to the police station.
Deputy Chief Smith Weir said Columbus police are continuing to canvass the neighborhood for information and possible video. He said police did not know if Maye had a connection to the Cleveland area.
Police were notified when a person identifying himself as Maye's husband called 911 after she woke him up and made him believe that Taylor had been hurt. The man told a dispatcher she abruptly left the home in her vehicle with the child. Weir said the Mayes have been Taylor's foster parents since May and that police were still attempting to contact his biological parents.
Bryant said Columbus police alerted the Ohio State Highway Patrol of Taylor's disappearance at 3:18 a.m., then made the official Amber Alert request at 4:20 a.m. Fifty minutes later, the alert was issued.
Maye is described as having brown hair and brown eyes. She is 4 feet 9 and weighs about 115 pounds. Because of the potential the child was harmed, Columbus homicide detectives responded to the initial scene.
If you see Taylor or Maye, police ask that you call 1-877-AMBER-OH (1-877-262-3764), Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477), the Columbus police tip line at 614-645-2228 or 911 to be transferred directly to the investigating law enforcement agency.