'We believe the child is in danger.' AMBER Alert issued for missing 5-year-old Ohio boy

Sheridan Hendrix and Bethany Bruner, USA TODAY
Columbus Police Chief Elaine R. Bryant addresses the media at Columbus police headquarters Wednesday morning during a press conference about Darnell Taylor, a missing 5-year-old Columbus boy who is believed to been taken by his foster mother, Pammy Maye, on Feb. 14, 2024. Law enforcement issued an AMBER Alert about Taylor.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine R. Bryant addresses the media at Columbus police headquarters Wednesday morning during a press conference about Darnell Taylor, a missing 5-year-old Columbus boy who is believed to been taken by his foster mother, Pammy Maye, on Feb. 14, 2024. Law enforcement issued an AMBER Alert about Taylor.

State authorities in Ohio issued an AMBER Alert Wednesday morning for a 5-year-old boy from Columbus , who police said is in danger.

The boy, Darnell Taylor was taken from his home by his 48-year-old foster mother, Pammy Maye, according to the Ohio Amber Alert website.

Darnell was last seen about 3 a.m. at his home on the city's South Side, Columbus Police Department Deputy Chief Smith Weir told reporters at a press conference Wednesday.

According to the Amber Alert, the boy is Black with black hair and was last seen wearing Spider-Man pajamas and white boots.

"We believe this child is in danger, so we are asking for the public's help," police Chief Elaine R. Bryant said.

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Police are searching for Darnell Taylor, a missing 5-year-old boy who is the subject of an Amber Alert issued Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.
Police are searching for Darnell Taylor, a missing 5-year-old boy who is the subject of an Amber Alert issued Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

A 911 call

The chief said Maye's husband called 911 just after 3 a.m. and said his wife had woken him up and made statements to him that led him to believe Taylor may have been hurt.

He said Maye then abruptly left the home.

Police are searching for Pammy Maye, the foster mother of a 5-year-old Columbus boy who went missing Wednesday.
Police are searching for Pammy Maye, the foster mother of a 5-year-old Columbus boy who went missing Wednesday.

Maye was last seen wearing a green floral nightgown with pink shoes. She stand 4 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 115 pounds.

SUV found more than 140 miles away in Cleveland

At the time she disappeared, Maye was driving a grey 2015 Jeep Cherokee with an Ohio license plate that read JIGGZII.

Just before 6 a.m. Wednesday, police reported, the vehicle was found unoccupied, in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn about 140 miles northeast of where the boy was taken.

Weir said officers searched Maye's family and friends' homes looking for her and the child before issuing an AMBER Alert around 5 a.m. As of a just before noon local time, K-9 officers were currently searching the area around the Maye's home.

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'We have no idea what we're dealing with'

Maye began fostering Taylor in May 2023, Weir said. The boy's biological family has been notified of his disappearance. Weir said police were called to Maye's address several months ago for an unrelated incident.

Bryant called the situation "fluid" and pleaded that the public reach out with any information "no matter how minute." When asked if police knew whether Taylor was alive or not, Bryant said it is unclear.

"We have no idea what we're dealing with right now," she said.

Anyone with information about the child or Maye should call 1-877-AMBER-OH (1-877-262-3764) or 911.

Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund with USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: AMBER Alert issued in Ohio for Darnell Taylor, foster mom Pammy Maye

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