Car reported stolen in Maleah Davis case found in Missouri City parking lot
MISSOURI CITY, Texas (FOX 26) - Houston police say the silver Nissan Altima that 4-year-old Maleah Davis was said to be riding in when she was allegedly abducted has been located.
Police say a citizen saw the car in the parking lot of a Missouri City shopping center and called authorities. The license plate is said to match the license plate of the car they were looking for.
Investigators say the car was unlocked when they arrived, and the car looked normal with no obvious signs of something occuring. The car does not appear to have damage and all four tires on the car appear intact.
The car will be taken back to the Houston Police Department lot to be processed by investigators.
RELATED: Ground search resumes for missing 4-year-old Maleah Davis
Police have been searching for the car since Maleah was reported missing on Saturday. Police said Maleah's stepfather Darion Vence had told detectives he was driving to Bush Airport on Friday night when he heard a pop and stopped to check his tire. He told police that was when three men in a blue pickup truck pulled up, someone hit him over the head knocking him unconscious, and he, Maleah and his 1-year-old son were abducted.
Police say Vence said he and the boy were later left in Sugar Land.
Sugar Land police say Vence told investigators conflicting information. Police say he first said he walked to Sugar Land Methodist Hospital after regaining consciousness Saturday following the alleged abduction. Then, Sugar Land police say he changed his story to say he was dropped off there by someone in a car.
A Houston police investigator told FOX 26 that Vence is a person of interest in her disappearance.
Texas Equusearch resumed the ground search for Maleah in southwest Houston on Thursday morning. Heavy rains on Tuesday left the search area flooded on Wednesday and caused Texas Equusearch to suspend their ground search. They searched by air instead.
Crews were initially looking for Maleah in northeast Houston but shifted search efforts to southwest Houston on Tuesday. Texas Equusearch set up a command post near the apartments where the girl is said to have lived with her mom and stepdad when she went missing.
If you have any information that can help police, you can call them or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
RELATED