Surveillance video released amid search for abducted 3-year-old: 'This is the male we're looking for'
Police on Friday released surveillance video from the night a 3-year-old Alabama girl was abducted in hopes that the public can identify a man who might help with the case.
The grainy footage shows two small children, including who's believed to be missing 3-year-old Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney, playing near a Birmingham housing area Saturday night.
"There are two males that appear in the video where the two children are playing," Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said at a news conference on Friday. "The first male will walk completely by. He looks at them. And it's the second male that comes up and engages the children."
That second man is a suspect, said Smith, adding that investigators believe they know who that man is.
Police are looking to identify and speak with the first male in the video.
"The first man who walked by in the video, he may have pertinent information that will help us," Smith said. "This is the male we're looking for ... we want to talk to him ... if he saw something that night that may be critical to the investigation."
Within minutes of the video being taken, authorities received a report that Kamille was missing, police said.
The week has brought an "exhaustive search" for Kamille, who was playing with other children at an outdoor birthday party in Birmingham on Saturday when she vanished, Smith said.
An Amber Alert was issued but the Birmingham police said earlier this week that there was no information on Kamille's whereabouts.
The planning of the kidnapping was likely 20 minutes, Smith said.
"I don't believe that a lot of planning went into it," he said.
Police do not have a motive, Smith said.
The chief on Friday also asked volunteers to come forward to help with a grid search on Sunday. The search will be in one area investigators found was frequented by a person of interest, Smith said.
"In my heart I believe she is in and around the area and we're hoping to bring her home safely," Smith said.
