Police expand search area for missing Cayce girl, ask public not to listen to rumors
The Cayce Department of Public Safety has added to the areas where they’re searching for a missing 6-year-old girl.
Police are now searching outside the one mile radius of the Churchill Heights neighborhood where Faye Marie Swetlik was last seen, Sgt. Evan Antley said at a Wednesday news conference at Trinity Baptist Church in Cayce. Police are searching along Interstate 26 moving east toward Charleston Highway and other areas outside of Churchill Heights.
Faye’s family were at the news conference and declined to make a statement.
Authorities are looking for Faye, who was reported missing Monday from her home in Churchill Heights, Cayce officials said.
Multiple cars were towed from the Churchill Heights area Tuesday.
Antley said he could not comment on that at this time, but in a earlier news conference Cayce Department of Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said the two vehicles could be useful to the investigation.
On Wednesday, Antley stressed people should not listen to, or spread, rumors and inaccurate information circulating on social media. He did not expand on that inaccurate information. Antley said people should look for accurate information from the Cayce public safety department.
“Rumors that are false could divert” resources from the search, Antley said.
Faye returned home on a school bus Monday and was last seen playing in her yard by family at about 3:45 p.m., Antley said.
Faye’s family reported her missing to law enforcement at about 5 p.m., and within 40 minutes there were 50 emergency responders searching for the girl near her home at 16 Londonderry Lane, Antley said.
That’s near the junction of Edmund Highway, or S.C. 302, and Interstate 26, and about two miles from Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
Antley said the neighborhood has been locked down by law enforcement. It is only accessible to residents and people who worked in the neighborhood on Monday.
“Anyone that’s in that neighborhood that’s coming to sight see or things like that, just slows our team down. If they weren’t there Monday, then the questions we’re asking don’t pertain to them,” Antley said. “People that live in that neighborhood, that do business in that neighborhood, we want to know what they know.
“We don’t want to worry about everyone else coming through there that’s not a part of this investigation.”
Cayce officials described her as white with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing polka dot boots and a black T-shirt with the word “PEACE” on it. Faye’s hair is shorter than pictures currently circulating of her, according to Snellgrove. Her hair is about shoulder length now.
She has a speech impediment and is lactose intolerant, according to Antley.
Anyone with information on the missing girl is asked to call the tip line at 803-205-4444.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREThis is a breaking news story
In a breaking news situation, facts can be unclear and the situation may still be developing. The State is trying to get important information to the public as quickly and accurately as possible. This story will be updated as more information becomes available, and some information in this story may change as the facts become clearer. Refresh this page later for more updated information.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Police expand search area for missing Cayce girl, ask public not to listen to rumors."
