Stepfather Named 'Person of Interest' In The Case Of Missing 4-Year-Old Maleah Davis

HOUSTON, TX — A Houston man has been named a “person of interest” in the disappearance of his four-year-old stepdaughter, after he first claimed that three strangers abducted her last Friday.

In addition, Child Protective Services reported removing the toddler from her home in August 2018 over allegations of abuse, but the agency returned her this past February.

Darion Vence, 26, is the stepfather of missing child Maleah Davis. Initially, Vence told police that he, Maleah, and his two-year-old son had been assaulted and abducted in Houston by three Hispanic men in a blue Chevy pickup.

An Amber Alert was issued for Maleah on Sunday. In addition to the normally intense concern surrounding any missing child, authorities pointed out that Maleah has undergone multiple brain surgeries and is in need of “a lot of care.”

During a news conference on Sunday, Sergeant Mark Holbrook of the Houston Police Department Homicide Division said that Vence and the kids were reportedly driving to the airport on Friday to pick up the children’s mother, Brittany Bowens.

Then, Vence told investigators, “A big, blue pickup truck pulls up behind him, two Hispanic males get out. One of them makes a comment, saying that Maleah looks very nice, looks very sweet. The other male hits Darion in the head. Darion loses consciousness."

From there, Vence said the kidnappers drove him around for nearly 24 hours, during which he was in and out of a daze. At about 6 P.M. the following day, according to Vence, the three men deposited him and his son on the side of a freeway in Sugar Land — but they took off with Maleah.

Vence said he wandered from that point into Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital at 10 or 11 P.M, where he was treated for flesh wounds.

At first, Houston Police stated that Vence was not a suspect, and they even released a photo of him with a visible head wound. However, Sugar Land authorities pointed out that details in Vence’s story kept changing, and Houston subsequently named Vence a person of interest.

On top of those developments, Child Protective Services reported that in August 2018 the agency removed Maleah from the home she lived in with Vence and her mother after investigating abuse claims related to a head injury she sustained. CPS returned Maleah to the home this past February.

Brittany Bowens told reporters that investigators determined the injury came from a fall. She also added that she is “terrified” for her daughter and just wants to “find my baby.”

Maleah Davis is an African-American female with black hair and brown eyes. She is approximately three feet tall and weighs 30 to 40 pounds. She was last seen wearing a light blue Under Armor jacket, blue jeans, and gray Under Armour tennis shoes with pink and white details.

Anyone with information regarding Maleah's whereabouts is urged to contact the Houston Police Department at (713) 308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.

Read more: KPRC-TV, KVIA, ABC News, Fox News