HOUSTON (AP) - In a story May 9 about a missing Houston girl, The Associated Press, relying on information provided by the police, misspelled the name of the man who told investigators that the girl had been abducted. His name is Derion Vence, not Darion Vence. The AP also reported that police referred to Vence as the girl’s stepfather, but he wasn’t. A spokesman for the girl’s mother says she and Vence lived together and were engaged, but that she recently broke off the engagement.
A corrected version of the story is below:
The Latest: Police to view footage of lot where car found
Police say the car that was reportedly stolen when a Houston girl disappeared last week was found unlocked and apparently undamaged in a suburban parking lot
HOUSTON (AP) - The Latest on the search for a 4-year-old Texas girl reported missing Saturday (all times local):
12:30 p.m.
Police say the car that was reportedly stolen when a Houston girl disappeared last week was found unlocked and apparently undamaged in a suburban parking lot.
Houston police Detective Kenneth Fregia says a woman spotted the gray Nissan Altima on Thursday in a Missouri City lot and notified the authorities.
He says the car appeared “normal” and that investigators will search it carefully for any evidence that might help them find 4-year-old Maleah Davis. He also says they are searching for security camera footage that might show when and how the car arrived in the lot.
Maleah’s mother, Brittany Bowens, was at the scene and could be seen crying and beating her hands against the ground.
A man who had been engaged to Bowens reported Saturday that he, Maleah and his 2-year-old son had been abducted the previous night by men in a pickup truck who later released him and the boy.
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11:30 a.m.
Police have found a car that was reportedly stolen when a 4-year-old Texas girl disappeared late last week.
Officers located the gray Nissan Altima on Thursday in a parking lot in Missouri City, a suburb southwest of Houston.
Police say Derion Vence told investigators that he was driving to the airport to pick up the girl’s mother Friday night when he pulled over to check if it had a flat tire. They say Vence said men in a pickup truck pulled up, knocked him out and abducted him, Maleah and his 2-year-old son before eventually allowing him and the boy to go free. Vence at one time was engaged to Maleah’s mother.
Authorities say Vence reported the abduction at a hospital on Saturday night and explained that he had been in and out of consciousness over the previous 24 hours.
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