Search continues for endangered toddler from Mecklenburg County

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — The last time three-year-old Samalea Daniel’s father saw her was June 19 in the Steele Creek area.

PAST COVERAGE: Officers ask for public help to find missing, endangered Mecklenburg County toddler

The father tried to report her missing several days later July 1, according to a police report obtained by investigative reporter Madison Carter.

Samalea Monet Daniels 3-year-old Samalea Monet Daniels was originally taken from her home in Mecklenburg County, where she lives with her father who is her legal guardian. She is believed to be with her mother, 29-year-old Tianna Mila Daniels.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department closed on the case on July 5 after determining the child was likely not in its jurisdiction.

There is a nearly two-week gap before her father showed up at the Virginia Beach Police Department on July 14 with a court order stating the child should be in his custody.

The girl was last seen that morning at 9 a.m. at her grandmother’s Virginia Beach home.

Police think the girl’s mother, Tianna Daniels, took her that day at some point after the court order was secured.

Virginia State Police announced an endangered person alert later on July 14 with information about the disappearance and what kind of car the mother might be driving.

NEW: I was able to get in contact with Samalea’s dad today who helped me iron out the timeline. He says he’s been in courts across two states the past month trying to get enough documentation for police to step in to get his daughter back. Here are better pics of her. https://t.co/Ez0dITihDW pic.twitter.com/AMVBweYfVX
— Madison Carter (@madisonlcarter) July 18, 2023

Samalea’s father, Jalen Davis, told Carter Tuesday that he wants more to be done to get his daughter back, which includes officials sending out an Amber Alert.

Samalea has been in his care for the last two years, Davis told Channel 9.

Court documents show a judge signed off on whatever proof Davis presented to back his claims that she belongs in Charlotte with him.

Davis has been working to get the proper documents to law enforcement to get involved with the custody battle.

Although the alert went out saying the girl is believed to be in extreme danger, Davis said he is more worried about the conditions she’s living in.

“Just by being in the situation she’s in, that being around the people she’s in, if she’s not well taken care of and she’s always mentally unstable, I don’t think that she would hurt her on purpose,” Davis said. “But I do believe that she could hurt her accidentally or hurt her indirectly.”

Carter asked the agency why an Amber Alert was not issued and learned authorities did not believe this case met the criteria for one. She received this response from a Virginia State Police spokesperson:

“When a missing person situation does not meet all required criteria for an Amber Alert, state police helps by sending out the requesting agency’s information as a Missing/Endangered Child Alert. The Missing/Endangered Child Alert does not activate the highway digital message boards, lottery kiosks, EAS and cellphone alerts, etc.”

Officers believe they may be driving in a gray 2011 Ford Escape with Virginia plates: N4M45T3.