Amber Alert canceled after 3-year-old missing from Charlotte home was found, police say
Update: Corey Patterson, 29, has been arrested and charged in the death of Jaqusica Wilson, 27, CMPD reported Feb. 14. Wilson is the mother of Marlaya Monet Patterson, who has been reunited with her family. Patterson is charged with murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, officials said. The original story is below.
An Amber Alert was canceled a few hours after it was issued Sunday for a missing Charlotte 3-year-old girl whom police said had been abducted by her armed and dangerous father.
At about 3 p.m., Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said authorities located Marlaya Monet Patterson after an extensive investigation.
No other information has been released about Marlaya or the status of her father, 29-year-old Corey Patterson, as of 6 p.m. Sunday.
Police had been looking for Patterson in connection with Marlaya’s disappearance.
Shortly before 6:30 a.m., a family member contacted CMPD over concern for Marlaya, police said. Marlaya was last known leaving a home in the 1600 block of Swan Drive in north Charlotte, according to a North Carolina Department of Public Safety news release.
That is the same block where a homicide was being investigated after police responded at around 6:30 a.m. for a welfare call for service. A woman was found shot to death.
But it was not immediately clear if the two cases were related.
Marlaya is 3 feet tall, weighing about 40 pounds, the NC Department of Public Safety said. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
Patterson is 5-foot-6 and weights about 140 pounds, NCDPS said. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He is believed to be driving a Silver 2012 Ford Escape with the North Carolina license tag BDB-2527, NCDPS said.
Anyone who sees or has information about Patterson or the vehicle, is asked to call 911 immediately.
According to state DPS records, Patterson had previously served time in prison, primarily for habitual breaking and entering.
This story was originally published February 13, 2022 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Amber Alert canceled after 3-year-old missing from Charlotte home was found, police say."
