Hundreds searching for 6-year-old girl who vanished while playing outside her home

First grader Faye Swetlik was last seen at about 3:45 p.m. Monday.

February 11, 2020, 5:18 PM

Hundreds of officers are searching for a 6-year-old South Carolina girl who's been missing for more than 24 hours.

First grader Faye Swetlik was last seen around 3:45 p.m. Monday, after she got off the school bus and was playing in front of her home in Cayce, just outside of Columbia, according to the Cayce Department of Public Safety.

"Faye is a bubbly and happy little girl" who "always wants to play and have fun," her family said in a statement. "She's not the type of kid that will up and walk away."

"When she walks into a room she brightens it up. Everybody loves Faye," Cayce Department of Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said at a news conference Tuesday.

PHOTO: Faye Swetlik, 6, is seen in this undated photo released by the city of Cayce, South Carolina in an attempt to help locate the missing.
Faye Swetlik, 6, is seen in this undated photo released by the city of Cayce, South Carolina in an attempt to help locate the missing.
City of Cayce

Faye's mother, her mother's boyfriend and Faye's father have all been cooperative with police, Snellgrove said.

The FBI has sent agents to assist in the search, Snellgrove said.

Authorities said they planned to go door-to-door through the neighborhood on Tuesday.

Area residents also offered to help search, said Sgt. Evan Antley of the Cayce Public Safety Department.

Authorities have asked neighbors with security cameras to contact them.

"We've got a lot of leads in," Snellgrove said.

"We want to get Faye back home, so we're not leaving any stone unturned," Antley said.

PHOTO: Poster for missing 6-yr-old, Faye Swetlik.
Poster for missing 6-yr-old, Faye Swetlik.
Cayce Department of Public Safety via Twitter

"The last time Faye was seen she was wearing a black shirt with the word 'peace' across the front of it," Snellgrove said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cayce Department of Public Safety at 803-205-4444.