CAYCE, S.C. — The mother of Faye Swetlik, the South Carolina girl who was missing and later found dead, can be heard frantically asking for help to locate her child in a 911 call just made public.
The audio recording was released Friday by the Cayce Department of Public Safety, the agency investigating Swetlik's death. News19 is releasing the audio of the call but we want to warn readers that this is not easy to listen to, and people should use discretion.
Officers say the girl's death is a homicide, and they've linked her killing to the death of one of her neighbors in the same area. They have said what the connection is.
Faye went missing around 3:45 p.m. Monday, about an hour after she got off the school bus from Springdale Elementary, where she was a first-grader.
In the 911 call, Faye's mother is gasping for air and has trouble speaking as the operator asks what her emergency is.
"I need to report a missing child," she said.
After the operator got her basic information, Faye's mother said, "I can't find my daughter she was playing outside..and no one can find her....she was just...right in front of my front porch."
At the time of the call, Faye's mom said the young girl had been missing for an hour.
When the operator asked if she'd tried looking in the backyard or had walked around the house, the mom said "yes."
"I checked all the houses in my neighborhood and anybody that actually answered is out looking for her too," she said.
The mom stayed on the call for several more minutes and was asked to wait in the front yard. The dispatcher told Faye's mom they would send an officer with a K-9 officer to search.
Not long afterward, more officers arrived at the scene, and police sent out a missing person flyer on their social media accounts and to local news outlets.
Investigators would recover Faye's body in a wooded area near her home three days later.
Who was Faye?
Cayce DPS Chief Byron Snellgrove talked Tuesday little bit about the kind of girl Swetlik was.
"Faye is a bubbly, energetic," he said at the time. "Faye's teacher loves her, Faye's SRO loves her, Faye's classmates love her. When she walks into a room she brightens it up. Everybody loves Faye."
Snellgrove said the girl loved dresses, fancy shoes, spending time with her family, cats, and playing outside.
Foutz and Collins said Faye liked to collect rocks, play outside and take selfies with her family and friends.
"She's fun, bubbly, loves to color, always has a smile on her face and the prettiest blue eyes you've ever seen," says the family friend. "A smile that would melt your heart."
