TAELAH YVETTE SMITH - 3 yo - Dickinson (S of Pasadena) TX

Dickinson TX ---- The Dickinson Police Department issued an Amber Alert
Sunday for 3-year-old Taelah Yvette Smith.
According to investigators, Taelah was last seen with her grandfather,
Wilbert Earl Burton, Saturday at about 9:45 a.m. Burton, 47, is also
listed as a missing person.

"The little girl was staying with her grandfather and great-grandmother
in Dickinson while her mother was out of town," DPD Detective Craig Fos
said. "She and her grandfather were going to a friend's house in La
Marque, but they never made it there."



Taelah is 2 feet 8 inches with black hair and brown eyes. She weighs
about 40 pounds and was last seen wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans
with red slippers or dress shoes. She had yellow and pink barrettes in
her hair, police said.

Burton is about 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 240 pounds. He drives a 1995
blue/grey Toyota pick-up truck with Texas license plate number AC2-9870.
The truck has multiple primer spots and no tailgate or rear bumper.


Burton is a registered sex offender, but his arrest stemmed from a 1989
case involving an adult female, according to officials. Police said he
is not suspected of any foul play in this disappearance.

"We don't believe the child's grandfather's record as a sex offender
puts her at any extra risk," Fos explained. "His victim was an adult
female. Burton is not a child predator."

If you have any information on their whereabouts, call the Dickinson
Police Department at 281-337-4700.

An Amber Alert issued for a 3-year-old girl who
went missing with her grandfather was canceled Monday after they were
found safe in Alvin, authorities said.

Dickinson police Sunday
issued an Amber Alert for Taelah Yvette Smith, 3, who was last seen with
Wilbert Earl Burton, 47, about 9:45 p.m. Saturday in the 3500 block of
Baker Drive, detective Craig Fos said in a statement.

Burton
called relatives twice from Houston early Monday morning, asking for a
ride. But when his family arrived, Burton and Taelah were nowhere to be
found, Fos said.

Someone in Alvin spotted Burton and Taelah about
10:15 a.m. in the 1400 block of Victory Lane after recognizing them
from Sunday’s Amber Alert, Fos said.

Alvin and Dickinson police
are with the pair, and Smith’s relatives were en route to pick the child
up at the police department, Fos said.

Relatives reported Taelah
and Burton missing when the pair didn’t arrive at a friend’s house in
La Marque, Fos said.

Burton called relatives about 1 a.m. Monday
and told them he was at Beechnut and Hilcroft streets in Houston and
needed a ride, Fos said.

“He allowed Taelah to speak and she
sounded fine,” Fos said. “Wilbert did not explain why he had left with
the child or where he had been.” Relatives went to the area but didn’t
find Burton or Taelah, Fos said.

Sometime later, Burton called
relatives from a Houston pay phone in the 2200 block of Main Street, but
his relatives were unable to answer, because of a dead cell phone
battery, Fos said.

Houston police checked both locations, but
didn’t find Burton, Taelah or his truck, Fos said.

Police issued
the Amber Alert, because Burton is listed as a registered sex offender,
stemming from a 1989 incident involving a woman, police said. Burton was
not suspected of any foul play when reported missing and no charges
were filed, Fos said.