Search for missing Cayce girl has included garbage truck and land fill, cops say
UPDATE: Faye Marie Swetlik, a missing 6-year-old girl, was found dead Thursday, the Cayce Department of Public Safety said.
Original Story
Nearly three full days since Faye Swetlik was last seen, the search for the missing 6-year-old has included her home and a landfill among other places, the Cayce Department of Public Safety said Thursday.
Since Monday, investigators have looked at the Londonderry Lane home where Faye lives with her mother “multiple times,” and searched through trash in a dump truck as well as a Lexington County landfill, Sgt. Evan Antley confirmed during a news conference.
“In a case of this nature we are leaving no stone unturned,” Antley said.
That has also included going to every home in the Churchill Heights neighborhood and speaking with all of the residents, Antley said.
Law enforcement also conducted an interview with the occupants of a Chevrolet Trailblazer Thursday. That was one of two vehicles Cayce officials were tracking down after they were spotted in the neighborhood the last time Faye was seen.
Antley did not provide information on the interview with the two people in the SUV, but said it was “a great conversation.”
The search continues for the occupants of a silver sedan that video surveillance also showed was in the neighborhood Monday.
“Our investigators have yet to identify or interview the occupants,” the Department of Public Safety said on Facebook. “Talking with everyone who was in Churchill Heights at the time Faye was last seen is an important part of our work to bring her home.”
Antley also confirmed that two vehicles were towed from Faye’s home, but did not say why they were removed. Information on anything discovered in the vehicles was not available.
When asked if the search for the missing 6-year-old is still considered a rescue, and not a recovery, Antley was adamant that the goal remains to bring Faye home safe.
Faye was reported missing Monday from her home in Churchill Heights, Cayce officials said.
She returned home on a school bus Monday and was last seen playing in her yard by family at about 3:45 p.m., said Sgt. Evan Antley, of the Department of Public Safety.
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.
Cayce officials described Faye 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.
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This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 7:05 AM.
