Family, community mourn the death of 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - It's an unthinkable tragedy for the family of Wynter Cole-Smith.
The 2-year-old went missing in Lansing Sunday, launching a massive search with the hope she would be found alive. Her body was discovered in an overgrown alleyway on Detroit's east side Wednesday night.
Wynter's grandmother, Sharen Eddings, told CBS News Detroit on Thursday she hasn't found a way to release the pain since receiving the heartbreaking news.
There is a growing memorial for the 2-year-old girl near the alleyway on Ewrin Avenue and Olympia Street.
Although her family plans to have a vigil Friday, community leaders plan to honor her Thursday evening.
Eddings is immensely grateful for all the support the family has received during the agonizing search for Cole-Smith.
"We are exhausted. We haven't slept but a couple of hours for four days," Eddings said.
Wynter was taken by her mother's ex-boyfriend, Rashad Trice, on Sunday.
The 26-year-old man is accused of kidnapping the toddler after stabbing her 22-year-old mother in Lansing, stealing her car, and driving it to Detroit.
His actions triggered an Amber Alert and massive search.
"I've been watching this community, these Tik Tockers and YouTubers and Twitter people, and how they come out, show up, to help people. And that's the first place I ran to them because I knew that they could help me because, without them, I can only imagine what we would have went through," Eddings said.
She first learned that they had possibly found the little girl in the East Detroit alleyway through text messages, then a call from the Dock Ellis Foundation confirmed the tragic discovery.
"You never want to hear nothing like that happening directly on your block, let alone your neighborhood, you never want to hear nothing like that," Christopher Taylor, who lives near the alleyway, said.
It isn't clear yet why the child was dumped at that location, but neighbors say Trice is familiar with the area.
"He used to stay here. Back around the corner, years ago, his family or something, but why he chose this alley, no idea," Taylor said.
The FBI Evidence Response Team spent hours Wednesday night processing the scene. Agents were back out Thursday gathering additional information from neighbors.
"We try to stick together. We pull together, keep the community together. You don't want this one incident to have a bad reflection on a neighborhood. You know, it's just a terrible thing that came. I mean, you can't control some people. It's just terrible," Taylor said.
Cole-Smith's family vigil will happen Friday at 6 p.m. near First Church of the Redeemed at 9360 Van Dyke.
"Don't let this man poison your hearts because your heart is the one who found our baby. And other people need your heart," Eddings said.
The family says they are not creating a GoFundMe account at this time. Instead, they would donations to go to the Dock Ellis Foundation, which was by their side during the search.