Kamille ‘Cupcake’ McKinney’s body believed found in dumpster – AL.com, Al.com

Remains believed to be those ofKamille “Cupcake” McKinney, abducted 10 days ago from a Birmingham birthday party, were recovered Tuesday night.

Birmingham police and FBI agents found the remains in a dumpster. The discovery may have capped a tragic end to a massive search that began Saturday, Oct. 12, and has kept the Birmingham-area community and beyond on edge ever since.

“I wish I had all of you gathered here with good news. I wish I could share a high five or some other type of celebratory salutation but I cannot, ” said Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith.

The Birmingham Police Department along with the FBI found Kamille’s remains inside of Santek dumpster that had been parked in the Center Point area and then later moved to a landfill near Warrior. The chief said investigators have been sifting through about 12 tons of trash collected from in and around the Birmingham area for several days. “Our investigators, along with the FBI have worked tirelessly, 24 hours a da y to locate this young child and bring her back home and to hold those accountable who were involved in her disappearance … and ultimately her demise, ” Smith said.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency at 9 : 29 PM Tuesday cancelled the Amber Alert that had been in place since midnight on Oct. 12.

“This is a tough moment for this city. This is a tough moment for this family, ”said Mayor Randall Woodfin.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued this statement following news of the recovery of Kamille’s body: “Given the tragic news that is breaking this evening, I offer my heartfelt condolences to Kamille’s family. I offer profound thanks to law enforcement and to all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly in search of this precious little girl. The heart of our state is broke, but we must do all we can to avoid this happening to another family. Our prayers remain with Kamille’s family and all who have been touched by this nightmare. ”

Police plan to charge Patrick Stallworth, 39, and 29 – year-old Derick Irisha Brown with capital murder and kidnapping in Kamille’s death, Smith said. The day after Kamille’s abduction, police arrested Stallworth and Brown, his girlfriend, and impounded his Toyota SUV after he was identified as a man seen in surveillance footage at an Avondale store near the time of Kamille’s abduction. His Toyota Sequoia matched the description given by other children in the area at the time who said a man had been handing candy to kids at Tom Brown Village.

Stallworth’s attorney, Emory Anthony, declined to comment on the new charges against his client.

Brown was held on a bond revocation from a previous kidnapping case involving her children. Stallworth was charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography after investigators found multiple images in his phone. None of those images were of Kamille. He was released on $ 500, 000 bond but taken back into custody about 7 pm Tuesday.

chief has not released specific details about what may have happened to Kamille while she was in captivity, or how long she was in captivity before she was killed. “I can tell you what we believe at this point, ” Smith said.“ We believe that this was something they thought about and acted upon. They saw an opportunity to take a young child and they did. happened after that. ”

Smith said police have not established any link between Stallworth and Brown and Kamille’s family and addressed speculation of the family’s involvement. Kamille’s mother did not give interviews at the request of the police, Smith said. “I know a number of people have asked and commented, ‘Where’s the mother and why isn’t she out here appealing to the public about the safe return of her child?’ ” he said. “That was our call, not to pu the mother out there. It was our call not to put the family out there. We asked everyone to remain back and allow us to do our job. This is not a movie. This is reality. We did not see the benefit of throwing the mother in front o f the camera, ”Smith said.”

Kamille’s family was summoned to Birmingham police headquarters about an hour before the 8 pm news briefing. It was then investigators delivered the heartbreaking news to them.

“This moment for our city right now is very hard. It is the hardest for April Thomas, Kamille’s mother, Dominic McKinney, Kamille’s father, who have received this information and I know without a doubt are in tears right now, ” Woodfin said. “But they’re not in tears alone, they’re not crying alone, they’re not mourning alone. Tonight our entire city is mourning. Kamille is gone, ripped away from her family. The pain her family is enduring is unimaginable. ”

Woodfin reiterated what the police said – that those responsible for Kamille’s death will be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. “But tonight, right now, at this moment that we’re standing in, I ask one of this community – not to take sides, not to finger point but if there is any finger point to do its at the pe rpetrator who would kidnap and innocent 3-year-old. We stand in solidarity beside this broken family. “

The mayor cautioned the community to hold their own families a little bit tighter. “To the family of Kamille, your pain, your grief, your tears, your anger, your sadness, your many questions, your pain is not ignored, ” Woodfin said. “Your cries for help have not gone unanswered and will not go unanswered. I ask that we all in solidarity lift Kamille’s entire family up in prayer. A 3-year-old has been snuffed out from her family. ”

Police responded to the scene and then began a search for the vehicle. They found it a short time later on Crestwood Boulevard near the Irondale-Birmingham city limits.

Officers surrounded the vehicle only to learn that the driver had just dropped her own daughter off at daycare.

Less than two hours later, Birmingham police responded to a Center Point parking lot. A woman said she had tip for investigators regarding the ongoing probe into the Oct. 12 disappearance of the 3-year-old little girl who was last seen wearing a pink and leopard-print Minnie Mouse t-shirt and no shoes.

(On day) of the search for Kamille, Tuesday’s tips and reported sightings are among hundreds that have poured in. Still, there is no sign of the girl and no clear motive as to why she was taken in the first place, and where she could be after all this time.

Kamille vanished while at a birthday party in Birmingham’s Tom Brown Village public housing community. Police on Friday released surveillance footage that showed two small children – one of them believed to Kamille – playing when one man walked past them.

Moments later, a man with a distinctive limp approached the children and they followed him out of the view of the camera.

Police said the man with the limp is a suspect in the case. They have not said whether they have identified or located him. They asked that the other man come forward as a witness in the case.