Police seek information on two vehicles in connection to missing 6-year-old S.C. girl

CAYCE, S.C. (WIS/WCSC) - Police are seeking information on two vehicles in connection to the disappearance of a 6-year-old girl.

On Wednesday night, the Cayce Department of Public Safety released images of two vehicles they are hoping the public can help them identify in connection to missing 6-year-old Faye Marie Swetlik.

Authorities say the drivers may have information related to the investigation.

According to Cayce Department of Public Safety officials, the two vehicles were in the neighborhood during the time Swetlik was last seen.

Investigators said they have yet to interview the occupants of the vehicles.

“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,” CDPS authorities said.

Earlier in the day, authorities in Cayce discouraged people following the investigation from spreading rumors that could “potentially divert valuable resources" from search efforts.

Cayce Public Safety Department Sgt. Evan Antley said multiple agencies have worked tirelessly around the clock since Swetlik went missing.

“This morning and into this afternoon, you’ll see a continued law enforcement presence in the Churchill Heights neighborhood, as well as the surrounding area,” he said.

Authorities released new surveillance footage of Swetlik exiting her school bus Monday afternoon. She was last seen at about 3:45 p.m. Monday. Her family called 911 about an hour later after realizing they had lost track of her and couldn’t locate her.

The investigation remains focused in the neighborhood where Swetlik lives and the home she shares with her mother and grandmother. Antley said people who do not live in the neighborhood are being asked to stay away so that authorities can conduct their investigation.

"If they weren't there Monday, then, then the questions we're asking them don't pertain to them," Antley said. "We're asking people that are living in a neighborhood that do business in that neighborhood, we want to know what they know. We don't want to have to worry about everyone else coming through there that's not a part of this investigation."

Authorities towed two cars from the property where Swetlik lives, but Antley declined to comment on those vehicles. Antley said police dogs were also brought in to as part of the search.

The search area expanded beyond a one-mile radius from the Swetlik home to move east toward Charleston Highway in West Columbia, he said.

Cayce Department of Public Safety Byron Snellgrove said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference that Swetlik’s mother was home at the time her daughter disappeared. While authorities say there has been no evidence found that the child was abducted, they have not ruled out any possibility.

"Faye is a bubbly, energetic first grader at Springdale Elementary School," Snellgrove said at Tuesday's news conference. "Faye's teacher loves her. Faye's SRO loves her. Faye's classmates love her. When she walks into her room she brightens it up. Everybody loves Faye."

The FBI joined area law enforcement Tuesday afternoon at the request of the Cayce Department of Public Safety.

“We invited the FBI," Snellgrove said. "Any missing child is extremely important to us as well as the FBI. They already had agents in the area. They came and started assisting us almost immediately.”

Snellgrove said the child’s mother, her mother’s boyfriend and the child’s father have all been cooperating with investigators.

Snellgrove urged residents to hold on to a hotline number set up to accept leads in Swetlik’s disappearance. That number is 803-205-4444.

He also asked any residents of the Churchill Heights neighborhood where she vanished to call if they have any surveillance footage from security or doorbell cameras.

The last time Swetlik was seen, she was wearing a black shirt with the word Peace across the front of it, he said. Authorities say she was also wearing a floral print skirt and polka dot rain boots. Swetlik has strawberry blonde hair that is near shoulder length and blue eyes. She’s 3-foot-10-inches tall and weighs about 65 pounds. Officials said she has a speech impediment and is lactose intolerant.

As the search continued into the night, Trinity Baptist Church in Cayce hosted a prayer vigil for Swetlik.

The child’s grandmother and a close family friend attended the vigil and spoke about her after the service.

They said Faye is a “selfie queen” who loves playing with filters on Snapchat, dressing up, and playing outside looking for rocks.

“We’re waiting for her to bounce back in the room,” they said. “Yep, just come back home. She doesn’t walk, she bounces. Just come home. We’re ready for her to come home and find some more rocks.”

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