LAKEWOOD, Ohio — The Lakewood Police Department is on the third day of their desperate search for a one-year-old girl who went missing on Christmas Eve.
Investigators reported Chloe Walters was taken by her mother after she stabbed the child's father, who is also her husband.
An AMBER alert for Choice remains active as of Tuesday afternoon, with the investigation having begun in the early hours of Sunday. The child has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen at 12511 Clifton Blvd in Lakewood.
Lakewood Police say the suspect is the child's mother, 29-year-old Ariel Monae Walters, who is 5'4", 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
“We are concerned about the safety of the child," said Lakewood PD's Cpt. Frank Eschweiler. "All we want is for her to contact us. She can come to the police department with Choice. She can give Choice to a family member. As long as we can physically see that the child is OK, that's all we're asking for right now. We will deal with the other situation down the road. Right now, the big concern is the safety of the child."
Police say that they were called to Cove Park in Lakewood for a report of a man being attacked in the park at 2:20 a.m. on Sunday. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found that a 30-year-old man had been stabbed in the back.
“The way she injured him she was definitely angry with him about something,” Eschweiler said.
Further investigation revealed that the victim was stabbed by his wife, Ariel Walters, who then fled the area with their daughter. Lakewood police told 3News that the victim was taken to MetroHealth with serious injuries and is in critical condition.
They also made contact with the suspect at some point.
“We actually spoke to her on the phone and told her that our concern now is the child and she's not cooperating with us," Eschweiler said.
On Tuesday, Newburgh Heights Police Chief and Chairman of the Northeast Ohio AMBER Alert Committee John Majoy explained some of the difficulties of the search.
"It makes it challenging because she doesn't have a vehicle, and so the license plate readers and all law enforcement officers, they really don't have a vehicle they can be looking for," he said.
He said investigators want everyone in the child's family to know that if they have any idea where Choice is, they should tell investigators right away, and to not be afraid of losing the child.
“I think that one of the fears is that the family is worried that the child is going to be taken away, and in any situation involving a child, especially with a parent, if mom is taken into custody, dad's incapacitated in the hospital, the family might be concerned that the child's going to be taken away," Majoy shared. "But as long as the child is healthy, then we'll try to place the child with a family member, which is really going to be the best place for the child."
Majoy's asking anyone in the public that knows the Walters family, to please encourage them to share Choice's whereabouts with police. Their committee is getting increasingly concerned with this being the third day of the search when their AMBER alerts are typically resolved within 48 hours.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Ariel Walters for attempted aggravated murder with a $500,000 bond.
"Let's just make sure the child is safe, because that's the key behind this whole entire AMBER Alert," Majoy stressed. "I understand that there's a warrant for the arrest of the mother, and I understand that, but really the first and primary focus is the safety of this child.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lakewood Police Department at 216-521-6773.