Police spent countless hours searching for 5-year-old Nevaeh Buchanan before they made a gruesome discovery: Nevaeh's body.
Nevaeh went missing May 25,
after she was seen riding her scooter in her apartment building's parking lot.
Her body was found in a shallow grave and now investigators know the cause of death.
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Roy Lee Smith, a convicted rapist, has been in custody since Monday. Smith owns the van that George Kennedy has been driving. Smith is the second convicted sex offender being held in connection to Nevaeh's case.
After many days and countless hours, authorities in Monroe County, Mich., 40 miles south of Detroit, found the body of Nevaeh Buchanan. Nevaeh had been missing since Sunday, May 24.
A father and son were fishing along River Raisin in Raisin Township, Mich. on June 4th, when they came upong the gruesome discovery. Authorities said that the body was covered with a concrete or cement like substance that had started to crumble away.
At a morning press conference Monroe County Sheriff Timan Crutchfield warned the public that the perpetrator could be "anyone and everyone." He also stated that he hopes evidence technicians working at the body recovery site will be able to learn additional information about the perpetrator.
Previously in the investigation, the FBI and Monroe County Sheriff's office had urged the public to keep an open mind.
"It is always easy to rush to judgment," Edward Hanko of the FBI's Detroit Field Office said.
He was referring to the countless reports of bloody evidence found in a motel room being used by George Kennedy, a convicted sex offender and boyfriend of Jennifer Buchanan, Nevaeh's mother.
Kennedy is considered a person of interest in the case and is being held on parole violations. The recovered evidence was sent to the Michigan State Police lab, and police announced that the DNA they found was not a match to Nevaeh.
Police also named a second person of interest in the case. Roy Smith, 48, is a convicted sex offender currently being held on probation violations. Smith is considered an acquaintance of Jennifer's, and the owner of a van driven by Kennedy.
Monroe County Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield has warned the public against becoming "myopic" or too focused on George Kennedy.
"Kidnapping is a complex case," Hanko added. "Sometimes it takes months to solve, and sometimes years to solve."
George David Kennedy, a 39-year-old convicted sex offender, is being held for a parole violation in Monroe, Mich. Cops executed a search warrant on his motel room and found a number of items of interest, possibly related to Nevaeh Buchanan's disappearance.
Nevaeh Buchanan had been riding her scooter with friends in the Charlotte Arms Apartment Complex on the evening of May 24, 2009.
When her mother, Jennifer, emerged from her apartment to check on her, the only evidence of Nevaeh's existence was her scooter, abandoned in the parking lot.
Little Nevaeh was nowhere to be found.
Over the following days, hundreds of folks throughout the Monroe, Mich. community, as well as law enforcement authorities from surrounding areas, scoured the complex door by door, in hopes of finding Nevaeh alive.
Over 180 apartments were searched, all to no avail.
Multiple people connected to Nevaeh's family have been taken in for questioning. Kennedy and Smith, both convicted sex offenders, remain in custody on unrelated charges.
On Tuesday, May 26, investigators discovered a bloody knife in Kennedy's fishing tackle box.
Additionally, reports state that when cops executed a search warrant on Kennedy's $20 per night motel room, they found blood throughout the room, as well as on the bathroom sink and on a pair of shorts.
None of the evidence matched Nevaeh's DNA.
Cops say this isn't a open and shut case, and they are continuing to examine all leads.
America's Most Wanted has received the following AMBER Alert information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:
Full Message
The Monroe County Sheriffs Office is investigating an incident of an endangered missing child. Bike found in parking lot of apartment. The child was last seen at 8:15 p.m. on 5/24/2009 and is believed to be in extreme danger. If you have any information on the alleged victim, abductor or vehicle, IMMEDIATELY telephone 911 or Monroe County Sheriff's Office at
Missing Person Last Seen Date : 2009-05-24
Missing Person Last Seen Time : 20:15:00
Last Seen Address
Address : 1166 N Macomb Street
Address State Name : MI
Address City Name : Monroe
Point Of Contact
Contact Organization Name : Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Number :
Missing Child
Person Given Name : Nevaeh
Person Middle Name : Amyah
Person Sur Name : Buchanan
Gender : Female
Age : 5
Physical Description
Person Eye Color Code : Brown
Person Hair Color Code : Brown
Person Skin Tone Code : White
Height : 3FT 8
Weight : 45LBS
Description : Last seen wearing a red, white and blue striped shirt, knee length blue jeans
Sadly, investigators say it only took one of those tips to find Neveah. On June 4, 2009, cops say two fisherman, a father and son, discovered Nevaeh's body on the banks of the River Raisin in Raisinville Township, Mich. Police say the cause of death was asphyxiation and that Neveah was either burried alive or held down in the dirt and unable to breathe.