6-year-old Faye Swetlik was tragically found dead yesterday, three days after mysteriously vanishing from in front of her South Carolina home.
Her body was found at about 11 a.m. Thursday.
“It is with extremely heavy hearts that we are announcing that we have found a body that the coroner has identified as Faye Marie Swetlik,” Byron Snellgrove, Director of Public Safety, said in a press conference.
“We are now treating this case as a homicide.”
Vice President Mike Pence visited South Carolina yesterday and spent hours on the Citadel campus, a military college in South Carolina. He talked to the Corps of Cadets and then the Citadel Republican Society.
During one of his appearances, the vice president expressed his deepest condolences to the family of Faye.
“Allow me to address an issue that I know is on the hearts of people all across South Carolina today. And as your vice president and as a father, let me say we were deeply saddened to receive word this afternoon that the remains of Faye Swetlik, a 6-year-old girl who went missing from her parents’ front yard just three days ago, have been found,” Pence said.
The vice president also pledged to support South Carolina with any necessary resources from the federal government to help the investigation.
“We will continue to work closely with state and local authorities to hold any to account who are responsible for this heinous crime,” Pence said, adding: “But I would just urge everyone in South Carolina: Hug your kids today, and keep this little girl and her family and her community in your prayers.”
Faye disappeared from her front yard Monday afternoon. Her family contacted police around 5 p.m. For days, friends, family, and officials went door to door searching for the six-year-old while others spread Faye’s photo online, hoping that someone would come forward with information.
On Wednesday, police released what is believed to be the last images of Faye.
Yesterday, Cayce Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove announced that a deceased male was also discovered in the same neighborhood during their search for Faye. While that investigation has just begun, officials do not believe the community is in any danger.
No arrests have yet been made relating to the girl’s death.
If you have any information that could aid the ongoing investigation, officials urge you to contact 1-803-205-4444.
This little one really touched my heart, oh how I prayed she would be found alive. Like everyone I wonder who could harm this precious little one.
My heart aches for her family, her teacher and even her bus driver, the last to see her alive and well. Rest In Peace little one, they will not rest until the one that harmed you is located and justice served. ?
