UPDATE: Suspect in Wednesday’s AMBER Alert taken into custody

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - UPDATE: The suspect in Wednesday’s AMBER Alert has been taken into custody.

The KCPD said on Thursday night that the suspect, previously identified as Markelv Avery, responded to a patrol division station and was taken into custody without incident.

As previously reported, the child was already found safe on Wednesday.

Now, detectives will be compiling case information and “working with prosecutors to present information for their review to determine applicable charges.”

Previous coverage is below.

On Wednesday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol issued an AMBER Alert after an 8-month-old was taken from her mother’s house.

During an afternoon press conference, the police department said the missing and endangered child had been found safe. The AMBER Alert has been canceled.

The child wasn’t with the suspect, so the police are still looking for him as of 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Law enforcement said in the AMBER Alert that the girl had been taken from her mother’s residence by her father, 21-year-old Markelv Avery, just before 9:15 a.m. The residence is in the area of Gladstone Boulevard and Belmont Avenue.

The police said Markelv Avery was armed with a black handgun and was driving a white four-door Acura, which was missing its front bumper. An image of that vehicle is at the end of this story. Anyone who sees it or has information has been asked to call 911. Bear in mind that he is likely still armed.

Markelv Avery is described as being a Black man who is 6 feet, 2 inches tall and who weighs 150 pounds. He was wearing a denim jacket.

KCTV5 News spoke with the girl’s mother later on Wednesday, after the alert was canceled.

“He just came without my permission,” the mother told KCTV5. “He came in the house without my permission and took our baby out in the cold with no clothes on, just a blanket.”

She said that he kicked in the door and took their daughter at gunpoint.

“I was just scared,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

She said that she’s not in a relationship with the girl’s father, but that they were working through the details of co-parenting.

“I’ve seen the guy who’s supposed to be the father have that baby with him a lot,” one neighbor told KCTV5 News. “It’s not unusual for him to be here. I’ve seen him with the baby before quite a few times.”

The girl has been reunited with her mother. She said that her ex had left the child with a security guard at an apartment building and proceeded to drive off.

She described what her emotions were when she found out that her daughter had been found safe. She was sitting in a detective’s office at the time.

“I was happy,” she aid. “I mean, I didn’t think he was going to harm her. I know he wouldn’t harm her. But, it’s just like, the fact of what he did.”

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