Missing girl found OK after amber alert
A 2-year-old girl whose younger sister was found dead in Northeast Mississippi has been found unharmed in Georgia.
Police in the south Georgia town of Sylvester told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Maliah Harris and her parents – who were being sought by law
officers across the South after an Amber Alert went out – were located late Wednesday.
Lowndes County Chief Deputy Marc Miley says 2-year-old Maliah Harris of Caledonia disappeared with her parents after her 7-month-
old sister, Alyssa, was found dead.
County Coroner Greg Merchant says there were no visible signs of injury to the 7-month-old girl. An autopsy was being conducted.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol issued the Amber Alert earlier on Wednesday for Maliah and her parents – identified as 34-year-old Donald Boyd Harris and 31-year-old Allison Studdard.
Patrol spokesman Warren Strain had said Wednesday they were last seen in a black or brown 2002 Pontiac Aztec with Georgia license plate PGR7927.
Sylvester police told Georgia station WALB-TV that a Sylvester officer pulled the vehicle over on U.S. Highway 82 in Sylvester Wednesday afternoon.
Miley says the siblings’ grandfather discovered Alyssa’s body about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. The grandfather called 911 and the parents left with the 2-year-old girl, according to Miley.
Sylvester police said the parents were being questioned by police early Thursday.