Police say Maleah Davis may have been abducted by three men in a 2010 blue Chevrolet pickup, although authorities say their investigation is in its early stages. Detectives with the Houston Police Department are relying almost entirely on information provided by the girl’s stepfather, Darion Vence, who says he was ambushed by the men while driving to the airport Friday night with Maleah and his 2-year-old son. All three were abducted, Vence told police. He and the boy were left on the side of a highway nearly 24 hours later, Vence said, but Maleah was missing.<doc-sep>The mother of a 4-year-old girl reportedly abducted in Houston over the weekend made a tearful plea Monday night for the child's safe return. Maleah Davis' stepfather, Darion Vence, reported her kidnapping, telling police he was driving to George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday night to pick up the girl's mother when he pulled over to check on a possible flat tire. Vence claimed he was then attacked by two men, who held him and his two children — Maleah and her 2-year-old brother — before releasing him and the boy Saturday night. Maleah Davis Houston Police Department The distraught mother begged Texans to keep their eyes peeled for her little girl. "I just want to find Maleah and I love her so much. I love her so much," Brittany Bowens said Monday night. "If there's anybody that can help me, please, please, I just want to find my baby. I just want to find her." Her mother, Brenda Bowens, had a direct message for the child. "If she's listening to this, I want you to know that Nana loves you and I promise to take you to Lake Charles and I still want to do that," Brenda Bowens said. "I want to fulfill my promise that I told you the other day. And I miss you and I love you." A volunteer search crew resumed its efforts Tuesday morning, scouring fields near the Houston airport, looking for the missing toddler. The organization, Texas EquuSearch, which uses mounted patrols to search rugged terrains for missing persons, is also on the lookout for Brittany Bowens' silver Nissan, which Vence was driving Friday night and is also missing. Tim Miller, founder and director of Texas EquuSearch, had his volunteers searching for that car in nearby Sugar Land, where security footage spotted it over the weekend. "It'll hopefully stand out if this car is in this area, which I feel as though the car is somewhere in this area, close," Miller said.<doc-sep>The state of policing 1 year after George Floyd's death A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. 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(Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East (CNN) — It’s been two days since 4-year-old Maleah Davis vanished. Two days since the young girl, her brother and her stepdad were abducted by a trio of mysterious men, the stepfather said. Yet for reasons still unknown, everyone but Maleah was released safely, the stepfather said. And the trio of men are nowhere to be found. Now Texas authorities are scrambling to find Maleah, who was recently ill and has endured multiple brain surgeries throughout her young life. Houston Police Department An Amber Alert has been issued for 4-year-old Maleah Davis. “I realize there’s a lot blanks in the story” given by the stepfather, Houston police Sgt. Mark Holbrook said. He said detectives hope the public can help them “fill in the blanks.” Here are the pieces of the puzzle we have so far: The stepfather says he was knocked unconscious Maleah’s stepdad, Darion Vence, told detectives that he, Maleah and his son were on their way to the airport Friday night to pick up Maleah’s mother, who was flying in from Massachusetts, Holbrook said. The stepfather then heard a “popping noise” like a popped tire and pulled over to check on it, Vence told police. That’s when a blue pickup truck pulled up behind the car and two Hispanic males got out, according to Vence’s narrative to police. One of the men commented, “Maleah looks very nice, looks very sweet,” Holbrook said, according to Vence’s account. The other man hit Vence in the head and he lost consciousness, he told police. The stepdad says he kept passing out Houston Police Dept Stepfather Darion Vence said an abductor struck him in the head. When Vence woke up, he said, he was in the back of the truck with Maleah and her brother. But three Hispanic males were suddenly in the truck, the stepfather said. He told police he was in and out of consciousness until about 6 p.m. Saturday, when he woke up on Highway 6 with the 1-year-old boy. Maleah was not there. Vence said he walked to a nearby hospital where he received treatment and reported her missing. Maleah had multiple brain surgeries, police say Houston Police Department Maleah Davis Holbrook said the young girl had multiple brain surgeries, including one in recent months. The surgeries were intended to help an injury heal, he said. “She’s needed a lot of care,” the police sergeant said. “This week she was sick too.” Maleah’s head injury and allegations of physical abuse resulted in her and her two brothers being removed from their home in August, Tiffani Butler, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesperson, told CNN Monday night. In February, Butler said the judge in the case ordered the children be returned home, with Child Protective Services monitoring the home at least once a month to check on the family. CPS is investigating and searching for Maleah with law enforcement. Police have identified the makes of both cars Police have posted a representative photo of the blue pickup truck that Vence said the abductors were driving. An Amber Alert describes the car as a blue, crew-cab Chevy pickup truck, possibly a 2010 year model. Houston Police Dept Houston police say a blue truck similar to this one may have been used in Maleah Davis' abduction. The car Vence was driving – a silver Nissan Altima belonging to Maleah’s mother – is also missing, police said. Houston Police Dept This image shows the Nissan Altima on Saturday, during the time Vence said he was in and out of consciousness. A traffic camera captured an image of the Altima driving through an intersection in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land just before 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. But there is still no trace of Maleah. Maleah is about 3 feet tall and weighs 30 to 40 pounds. She was last seen wearing a light blue Under Armour jacket, blue jeans and gray Under Armour tennis shoes with pink and white details. Houston police ask anyone with information about the case to call 713-308-3600. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the ages of Maleah Davis and her younger brother. CNN’s Dakin Andone, Nick Valencia and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
The ex-fiance of Maleah Davis' mom told police she was kidnapped by three men. As volunteers passed out missing person fliers and helped Texas police search for her 4-year-old daughter, Brittany Bowens broke down in tears Monday as she expressed her darkest fears for the little girl who recently underwent brain surgery. "I'm terrified for Maleah," Bowens said of her daughter, in an interview with ABC station KTRK-TV in Houston. The search for Maleah Davis intensified on Monday as volunteers passed out fliers in Houston and searched a field near where Derion Vence, 26, the former fiance of Maleah's mother, told police three men accosted him when he had car trouble on Friday evening and took him, the girl and his 1-year-old son hostage before dumping him and the toddler on the side of a road and fleeing with the little girl. Vence told police that he and the children were headed to pick up Bowens at George Bush Intercontinental Airport when they were encountered by the men who took Maleah. "My spirit is broken. I feel so lost," Bowens told KTRK. "I can't concentrate. I can't focus. It's just ... it's so overwhelming for me. It doesn't seem real." Volunteers from a group called Texas EquuSearch set out on foot and by ATV in a field in northeast Houston, where Vence told police he was assaulted by Maleah's kidnappers after he noticed something wrong with the Bowens' silver 2011 Nissan Altima that he was driving and pulled over. "According to Derion, what happens next is a blue pickup truck pulls up behind him, two Hispanic males get out. One of them makes a comment, saying that Maleah looks very nice, looks very sweet. The other male hits Derion in the head. Derion loses consciousness," Sgt. Mark Holbrook of the Houston Police Department Homicide Division said during a news conference on Sunday. Vence told police that he kept going in and out of consciousness, but at one point he was in the back of the suspects' truck with his son and Maleah and that there were now three suspects in the vehicle driving them around, Holbrook said. He said the next time Vence woke up, about 6 p.m. on Saturday, he was on the side of the Southwest Freeway with his toddler son in Sugar Land, some 22 miles southwest of Houston. He told police he tried to flag down a passersby, but when no one stopped he walked to Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, arriving about 10 or 11 p.m. He was treated for a head injury and police were called. Holbrook said Bowens' Nissan Altima was spotted by a traffic camera at an intersection in Sugar Land at 2:54 p.m. on Saturday, but police have been unable to locate the vehicle. He added that Vence described the suspects' pickup truck as a 2010 Chevrolet crew cab. Holbrook said investigators have not found any evidence, including security video or independent witnesses, to corroborate Vence's story. He said there is about a 21-hour gap between the alleged assault and when Vence woke up on the side of the road that Vence doesn't remember. Holbrook said investigators have also interviewed Maleah's biological father, who is cooperating with the investigation. An Amber Alert issued on Sunday for the girl -- who was last seen wearing a pink bow in her hair, a light blue zip-up jacket, blue jeans and sneakers -- remained in effect on Monday. Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch said his group is praying that Maleah is found alive. "We want to start checking every single dumpster just in case," Miller told KTRK. "We believe in miracles. Let's hope we get one." "I'm choked up right now thinking about her," Miller added. "I've been on these cases before. If it doesn't touch your heart, and you don't get emotional, you're just not human." Maleah has had several brain surgeries, Holbrook told reporters at Sunday's news conference; including one that was performed last month. "She needs a lot of care and she was sick this week, too," Holbrook said. Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect changes in the spelling of Derion Vence's name and his relationship to Meleah Davis' mother, which were initially based on information provided by the Houston Police Department.