Although authorities have not officially identified a toddler found deceased on Sunday as Maliyah Bass, they’re telling the child’s parents to prepare for the worst.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a jogger found the body of a child floating in Brays Bayou, off of the 5200 block of Carrolton Street in SW Houston, and police say they believe it is that of missing 2-year-old Maliyah “Tootie” Bass.
Maliyah was last seen playing in the playground of the Sunset Crossing apartments in southwest Houston.
The toddler’s mother, Sahara Ervin, told Fox 7 that she had been watching from a nearby window as Maliyah played at the apartment complex playground on Saturday. Ervin said she turned away momentarily and when she looked back, her daughter was gone.
“This is really devastating to me. Who could be watching my baby to even snatch her from the park?”
Ervin contacted authorities immediately and an AMBER Alert followed. The following day, a tiny body was found floating in water, around 18 miles away from the playground Maliyah was taken from.
“They should of took me. They found my baby on an orange float floating down the bayou,” Ervin said.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the body found is likely of Maliyah.
“Based on what we know, based on missing children, although we can’t confirm for sure, it’s a high probability it will be her.”
Acevedo added that he’s “highly confident” that foul play is involved in the case.
Investigators plan to pull the river flow information but are asking residents who live along Brays Bayou to look at their security footage and contact police at 713-222-TIPS if anything suspicious is found.
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[Feature Photo: Maliyah Bass/Handout]
