Suffolk County Sheriff's Office Warrant Squad Locates Missing Infant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: December 12, 2020

DEPUTY INVESTIGATORS FROM THE SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S WARRANT SQUAD LOCATE INFANT “IN IMMINENT DANGER” IN WIDE-RANGING INTERSTATE SEARCH Baby Found Safe in North Carolina

(Suffolk County, NY) Deputy Sheriff Investigators assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Warrant Squad were on a complex investigative trail this week for an infant, one-year old Kaecyn Smith, deemed to be in imminent danger. A warrant for arrest was issued in Suffolk County Family Court on Monday, December 7th for the child’s mother, Kayla Smith, DOB 11/17/1998, and her ex-boyfriend, Levar Butts, DOB 8/30/1995, who is a New York State parolee. Upon receiving the arrest warrants, with a Writ of Attachment for the missing child, Sheriff’s Office’s investigators worked with Suffolk deputies assigned to the United States Marshals Service (USMS) New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Team to track the subjects down. Levar Butts was quickly located in Mastic Beach and taken into custody on Wednesday, December 9th.

At this juncture, they were still unaware of the whereabouts of the mother and child but had received information that led them to believe Kayla Smith had left New York with her child. Due to the exigent circumstances of the case and the imminent danger to the infant, investigators employed a wide range of complex investigative tools to locate them, including the use of technological assets and extensive interviews. On Thursday, Warrant Squad investigators issued a missing child alert through the N.Y.S. Missing Persons Clearinghouse, which aided in the ability of Suffolk County deputies to enlist additional federal resources and to work across state boundaries.

On Friday, December 11th, with the assistance of the USMS, Deputy Sheriff Investigators tracked Kayla Smith to a trailer in Stoneville, NC. A USMS Regional Fugitive Team in North Carolina responded to the location, and once they had the subject and child in sight, they moved in and secured the trailer. The child was turned over to the protective custody of the Rockingham County Department of Social Services. The SCSO Warrant Squad coordinated between staff at Suffolk County Child Protective Services and in Rockingham County for the child’s return to New York. Since Kayla Smith’s arrest charges are not extraditable, she remained in North Carolina.

Upon solving the case, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. said, “The search for this infant, along with the other subjects, has been intensive. I am proud of the excellent work our Deputy Sheriffs put into this investigation and I am thankful for the assistance of the US Marshals Service for their help in bringing this case to a successful conclusion.”

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