Missing toddler found safe; suspect in custody, Amber Alert canceled

SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — The City of Florence Police Department says they have located a missing one-year-old girl and the suspect who abducted her on Thursday evening.

Florence Police said the child, one-year-old Dylan Cooper, appears to be in good health, and the suspect is now in custody.

Sumter County deputies said they located a vehicle matching the description of an Amber Alert issued just before 7 a.m. Friday. Officials said they saw the vehicle leave a McDonald’s on Highway 15 South and performed a felony stop.

Deputies said Macie Eaddy was the driver and the only person in the vehicle. She allegedly told the responding deputies that she had left the child at an apartment complex with a mutual friend in Florence. Florence Police later said Eaddy abandoned the child around 8 p.m., not long after the abduction. They added that the child was left outside a home with no connection to the child.

Florence Police said around 6:50 a.m., a community member located Cooper outside a home in Timmonsville on Cale Yarborough Highway. 

The discovery came after the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) issued an Amber Alert Friday morning for a missing toddler from Florence.

Florence Police were searching for a 1-year-old girl named Dylan Cooper. Police believe 32-year-old Macie Eaddy abducted her. An Amber Alert was issued around 5:30 a.m. Friday Morning, and discontinued shortly after 7 a.m.

Officials said the child required medical attention and had a temperature of 90 degrees when found.

Authorities say Eaddy was shopping with the child’s mother on Thursday evening at H&Y Beauty and Roses at South Irby Street in Florence County.

That’s when officials say Eaddy took Cooper to the car while the mother finished shopping inside. Police said once the mom was done shopping, she walked outside and found that Eaddy had left with the child around 6 p.m.

Sumter deputies said Eaddy had outstanding warrants from Florence County. She was also driving under suspension and in possession of suspected methamphetamine.

The Florence Police Department announced that it had secured warrants against Eaddy for kidnapping, grand larceny and driving under suspension.

On Friday afternoon, SLED shared additional information regarding when certain events connected to the abduction.

The agency said the abduction occurred around 6 p.m. and that the child was likely dropped off at a residence that wasn’t connected to anyone involved in the incident around 8:30 p.m. New reports suggest the resident heard a car horn multiple times outside and saw a car leave the driveway.

The mother allegedly reported the child missing to Florence Polic around 9 p.m., and SLED said it received the initial request from police regarding a possible abduction around midnight.

SLED said it sent a bulletin to all law enforcement in South Carolina and bordering counties around 1:20 a.m. From roughly midnight to 4:20 a.m., SLED said it had been working with Florence Police and the FBI to find the child at addresses tied to the suspect.

SLED said it worked with several organizations and agencies before the public Amber Alert was issued at 5:38 a.m. to ensure it would be widely shared. Just over an hour after the public Alert was issued, the child was found in a carrier seat in the Timmonsville home’s driveway.

Eaddy was found around 7 a.m. in Sumter County after a tip from someone who saw the vehicle listed in the Amber Alert.

Officials said several factors must be true for an Amber Alert to be issued in South Carolina.

SLED said that the following must all be true:

• Law enforcement must believe the child was conducted, meaning taken from their environment unlawfully, without the authority of law and the permission of the child’s parent or guardian.
• The child must be 17 years old or younger, and law enforcement must believe the child is in immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death. If the person is 18 years old or older, the law enforcement agency must consider the person is at a greater risk of danger of serious harm or death due to “a proven physical or mental disability.”
• All other possibilities for the person’s disappearance must be “reasonably excluded.”
• Enough information is available to send to the public that could help locate anyone involved in the incident, such as the suspect, victim or vehicle used in the abduction.
• The child’s name and other important information have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.