VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Law enforcement agencies have issued a Missing/Endangered Child Alert for a little girl who Virginia State Police say was last seen in Virginia Beach Friday morning.
According to a spokesperson for Virginia State Police, the missing child’s name is Samalea Monet Daniels. She's 3 years old with brown eyes and black hair. She's 2’0” and weighs 35 pounds. It is unknown what she was wearing last.
She was last seen at her great-grandmother’s house in Virginia Beach on Stonington Court at around 9 a.m. Friday. Virginia Beach Police said she was originally reported as missing on June 20 by her father.
Samalea’s father got in contact with Virginia Beach Police Detectives on July 14 about the missing report he had filed in NC. An order was then issued by a Virginia Beach Judge for the child to be returned to her father in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Samalea is believed to be with 29-year-old Tianna Mila Daniels, who has hazel eyes and brown hair. She's 5’6” tall and weighs 130 pounds. Virginia Beach Police said she is Samalea's mother and lives in Virginia Beach.
They may be traveling in a gray 2011 Ford Escape bearing Virginia plates N4M45T3. Virginia Beach Police said the judge described the girl as "endangered" in the court order.
13News Now spoke to the father of Samalea over the phone. He said the 3-year-old had been living with him in North Carolina for nearly the past two years.
He said Tianna Daniels came to his home to spend time with Samalea and told him they were going out for ice cream while he was at work. He said he came home to both of them gone, which is why he filed the missing child report in North Carolina.
The father said he later learned they were potentially in Virginia Beach where Daniels had family and he called VBPD on July 14. Around that time, police learned someone saw the girl on Stonington Court in Virginia Beach.
That's where our 13News Now crew met the child's great-grandmother. She said Daniels brought her daughter to her home in Virginia, hoping to provide a better life for the child. She said Daniels would never hurt her daughter or put her in danger. The great-grandmother added Daniels left with Samalea, but she didn't know where they went.
The father told 13News Now he does not believe his daughter is in extreme danger, but he worries about the conditions she has lived in over the past few weeks.
A Virginia Beach Police spokesman said as of Monday afternoon, his department received multiple tips from people who saw the car matching the same description as the one Daniels is believed to be driving in the area of Henrico County.
Anyone who has seen Samalea or her mother is asked to please contact the VBPD Detective Bureau at 757-385-4101, Mecklenburg County Detective Bureau at 704-353-0890, or call 911.