Mariha Trenice Smith -- Missing 7/24/11

Police Issue Amber Alert For Detroit Girl

UPDATED: 4:41 pm EDT July 25, 2011

Police in Detroit are investigating the disappearance of a 5-year-old girl from her home and the discovery of a child's body in a house about a mile away that was intentionally set on fire.

Sgt. Eren Stephens said Monday morning that authorities have "no evidence to connect the two cases."

An Amber Alert was issued Sunday for Mariha Trenice Smith.

Mariha's mother reported the child missing around midday Sunday.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/28651376/detail.html

Name: Mariha Smith
Hair: Black
Eyes: Black
Ethnicity: Black
Age: 5 Year(s) old
Height: 2ft 5in
Weight: 26
Gender: Female
Description: No Information Provided
Subject Believed to be Wearing : black t-shirt with pink flowers and blue jean pants.

View NCMEC poster @ http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=1176368&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

Police Hold Aunt of Missing Detroit Girl
She fails lie detector test; family hopeful of 5-year-old's return
Josh Katzenstein/ The Detroit News

Detroit — Police are holding Quanita Smith, aunt of 5-year-old Mariha Trenice Smith, after she failed a lie detector test this week during an investigation into her niece's disappearance.

Quanita spent Monday and Tuesday at a Detroit Police precinct. She is not charged.

Her family said Tuesday she should tell the police anything she knows about Mariha.
"If she knows something, she should talk," Mariha's grandmother, Diane Henry, said.

Mariha went missing between 3 a.m. and noon Sunday from Quanita's house on the 3800 block of Burlingame on the west side. Mariha's family, including her mother and three younger siblings, has been staying there for a couple of months, Henry said.

Henry said her daughter must be lying out of fear, but she didn't know the specifics of what the lie might be.

Mariha's mother, 24-year-old Konesha Smith, passed her lie detector test Monday, but Henry said Konesha admitted she was passed out, drunk, when Mariha was kidnapped. Konesha said police advised her not to talk about the investigation.

Based on stories from the family and the layout of the house, it appears the kidnapper opened a window screen, moved a box fan from the window and climbed in over the couch where Konesha lay, to take Mariha.

Many family members of the missing girl hold out hope she's alive and continued to post fliers with her picture around the neighborhood Tuesday.

The charred remains of a 5- to 7-year-old girl were found in a burned house about a mile from where Mariha went missing.
The body matched the description of Mariha, Wayne County spokesman Dennis Niemiec said Monday, citing an autopsy. Investigators are using a DNA sample from Konesha to determine if the body is Mariha's.

Michael Williams, Henry's 55-year-old boyfriend who calls Mariha his granddaughter, thinks the remains from the charred house are those of Mariha. If another child her age was missing, someone would have reported it by now, he said.
"It's just sad," he said. "When's the madness going to stop?"
jkatzenstein@detnews.com


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110727/METRO/107270338/Police-hold-aunt-of-missing-Detroit-girl#ixzz1TJx5xWkB

DNA test results on burned remains of child expected soon
Jul 27, 2011

The results of DNA testing to determine whether the burned remains of a child are that of a missing 5-year-old Detroit girl could be complete as soon as today, an official said.

The DNA samples are being processed by the Michigan State Police crime lab -- but getting to that point hasn't been easy.

Since Sunday morning, investigators and family members have been trying to determine whether the burned remains found in an abandoned home are those of Mariha Trenice Smith, who went missing that morning.

Investigators retrieved the girl's DNA from Sinai-Grace Hospital, where she was born, and took a sample from her mother, Konesha Smith, an official familiar with the investigation told the Free Press.

Police were unable to get Mariha's DNA from the home where she was staying because other children there were known to share personal hygiene items, including toothbrushes, the official said.

~snipped:
Meanwhile, police are still trying to determine the identity of a man who bought 41 cents in gasoline at a nearby gas station at 7:44 a.m. Sunday -- 10 minutes before the Detroit Fire Department was called to the burning home at 2918 Waverly and found the girl's body.

According to police, a man was seen running from the scene.

full story: http://www.freep.com/article/20110727/NEWS05/107270430/DNA-test-results-burned-remains-child-expected-soon?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

The body found was that of Mariah.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/28650920/detail.html

So sad. Thanks for the update.

So sad. Why are there so many bad people out there?!?

DETROIT -- Detroit police arrested a man Friday in the killing of 5-year-old Detroit girl Mariha Smith.

Local 4 has learned that the boyfriend of Mariha's aunt has been arrested. No charges had been filed Friday.

Mariha was reported missing July 24 from her home on Burlingame Street. A body matching her description was found just hours later a mile away in an abandoned house after an arson fire was put out. DNA confirmed the body to be Mariha's.

The girl's mother, Konesha Smith, told police she was passed out when her daughter went missing.

Police were searching for the girl's aunt, Quanita Smith, earlier in the week to question her. Konesha Smith said her sister had failed a polygraph test and was being held by police before eventually being let go.

On Friday, family members said she was still missing.

Family members also said that they believe the aunt's boyfriend is the man shown on a gas station surveillance video buying a relatively small amount of gas in a can shortly before the home where Mariha's body was found went up in flames.

On Wednesday, Konesha Smith said she feared her sister Quanita knew more than she was telling investigators.

Funeral services for the girl were held earlier in the day on Friday.