The reward for finding missing 4-year-old Maleah Davis has been increased to $20,000 as police officials said the suspect in the case, Maleah's "stepfather" Derion Vence, knows where the girl's body can be found.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said during a press conference on May 23 that officials need help from the public finding Maleah's resting place because Vence isn't cooperating.
He said that Vence, the ex-fiance of Maleah's mother Brittany Bowens and described as the main caretaker of Maleah and two other children, has told police officers tall tales about what happened to the girl.
"You could drive a big rig right through the tales this guy has been telling," Acevedo said.
Acevedo said a $5,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the finding of Maleah while two people from Louisiana, Ronnie and Karen Bias, announced they were offering $10,000 for information on the case. Acevedo said that the pair is also known as uncle Dude and Nene. Another $5,000 was offered by Crime Stoppers for information that leads to an arrest and prosecution in the case.
Vence originally told police that he was with Maleah and his 1-year-old son on May 4 when they were accosted in Houston by three men he described as Hispanic. He said they knocked him out and when he came to he and his son were in Sugar Land and Maleah was gone.
Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch, a group helping with the search for Maleah, said that Vence told his mother-in-law that he could hide a body in Rosharon if he ever killed anybody.
The search of the area, like other searches for Maleah, turned up little evidence of her whereabouts.
At the press conference Thursday, officials indicated that in addition to Vence, Bowens and others are also not cooperating with them.
Chief Acevedo urged people again to help find Maleah.
"She deserves to be found," he said. "She deserves to be recovered. She deserves to have a proper burial."