HOUSTON — More than a month after Maleah was reported missing, came the news we all expected but didn't want to hear: Remains found in Arkansas Friday were positively identified as Maleah's
Quanell X told police where to find the remains after he said Derion Vence admitted Maleah was dead but claimed it was an accident.
MALEAH DAVIS TIMELINE
*Warning: Graphic details below*
Monday, June 3: Medical Examiner confirms child's remains found in Arkansas are Maleah Davis.
Sunday, June 2: EqquSearch founder Tim Miller said the condition of the remains will make determining the cause of death very difficult.
"I think it’s going to be impossible,” Miller told KHOU 11.
The remains dumped on the side of the road had been there for weeks. At one point, the trash bag was floodwaters. When the water receded a mower ran over the trash bag.
The image he can’t shake is seeing a little pink barrette among the remains thrown out like trash along an Arkansas highway.
Saturday, June 1: The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed they have the remains and are in the identification process.
Friday, May 31: The human remains found in Arkansas during the Maleah Davis search were flown to Houston.
Friday, May 31: Houston police say the remains of a child were found in Hempstead County, Arkansas, not far from where Vence told Quanell he disposed of Maleah.
Friday, May 31: An emotional Quanell X told KHOU the Maleah case hits close to home because he has a 6-year-old daughter.
"Maleah didn’t have to die. That little girl did not have to die,” Quanell said. “That child was being physically abused and physically tortured in that house and they were covering it up. It's a damn shame that her mother chose her mate over her own daughter."
Friday, May 31: Derion Vence's new attorney asked a judge to block Quanell X from visiting his client in jail, hours after Quanell said Vence confessed that Maleah was dead.
Thursday, May 30: It's been one month since the 4-year-old girl was last seen alive. Crime Stoppers announced the reward for information leading to the 4-year-old is now $27,500, including $15,000 from a private donor in Louisiana.
Wednesday, May 29: Quanell X withdraws as the spokesperson for Maleah's mom. He told KHOU 11 that Brittany Bowen's has not been truthful and "she knows what happened" to her daughter.
Wednesday, May 29: Derion Vence's attorney withdraws from the case saying he has not been paid for representing him.
Sunday, May 26: Three members after an Amber Alert was issued for Maleah, church members in Acres Homes prayed that Maleah would be found.
“I know it would be a miracle that she would come home alive," said Christ Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church pastor Edwin Deese. "If that’s not the case, we would like for the body to be found and then we would like to ask for justice for the people who committed this horrible crime.”
Friday, May 24: EquuSearch warns "somebody is going to walk if clumsy searches for Maleah continue.
Tim Miller was responding after an untrained search group not affiliated with EquuSearch reported they found a cell phone possibly connected to the case. It turned out to be a false alarm.
“You’re searching, God bless you,” Miller said. “Are you doing this for the right reasons? Or do you just want to put (it) out there so everybody says what a great person you are (because) you’re out there searching (because) your ego is too damn big? This isn’t about ego. It’s about a little girl that’s missing.”
Thursday, May 23: So far, there's been only silence from Derion Vence. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he believes Maleah is dead and Vence hid her body.
"I'm sure if he wanted, he could tell us where we could find the body," Acevedo said. "That's my opinion based on what I know so far."
Acevedo also pleaded with Houstonians not to forget about the sweet little girl.
"We want to reignite the public interest," Acevedo said. "We want people to think of their own children."
Monday, May 20: In a YouTube interview, Derion Vence's father, Joe D. Vence, claimed his son is not only innocent but also the victim of character assault by Maleah’s mother Brittany Bowens.
"He's not a violent person," Joe D. Vence said."He has no violent past at all. Why would you leave your children at home with him if he's doing all these things?"
Friday, May 17: Maleah's mother Brittany Bowens and activist Quanell X sat down with KHOU 11's Len Cannon for a 45-minute interview. She answered tough questions about her daughter's disappearance, her ex-fiance Derion Vence and abuse allegations.
Wednesday, May 15, 11:00 a.m.: The search continued in Rosharon in an area where Vence used to work a mail route, according to Tim Miller with Texas EquuSearch.
Miller also mentioned that about a year ago, Vence told his mother-in-law that if he ever killed someone, he had places in Rosharon where authorities would never find the body.
That night, Miller announced that they were temporarily suspending the search for Maleah but would continue to work with authorities.
Tuesday, May 14, 2:00 p.m.: Texas EquuSearch was in the Rosharon area searching for Maleah near a haunted house in the 12800 block of Valley Vista Drive.
Monday, May 13, 1:30 p.m.: Derion Vence's bond was reduced from nearly $1 million to $45,000, court records show.
YOUTUBE PLAYLIST: Maleah Davis case
Monday, May 13, 10:22 a.m.: KHOU 11 has obtained what is believed to be the last image of Maleah Davis from a law enforcement source. It appears to show the missing 4-year-old following Derion Vence. It was taken on April 30, according to police.
Monday, May 13, 9 a.m.: Derion Vence was expected in a Houston courtroom but the hearing was reset. Maleah's mother and Quanell X were in the courtroom. Vence's next court date is scheduled for July 10.
A crowd of bystanders yelled at Brittany Bowens as she left the courtroom, asking "Where's Maleah?"
Sunday, May 12: According to court documents released Sunday, a chemical was sprayed in Vence's apartment to detect for blood that isn't visible to the naked eye. Blood was detected in the hallway and bathroom of the apartment.
Samples were taken and investigators found the samples were consistent with DNA taken from Maleah's toothbrush.
Saturday p.m., May 11: Maleah's great grandmother says she jumped for joy when she heard Derion Vence had been arrested and charged with tampering with evidence. Her grandfather says it's hard to be happy because he knows Maleah is still out there.
Saturday, May 11, 4:35 p.m: The Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitives Task Force arrested Derion Vence at a relative's house in Sugar Land on charges of evidence tampering. HPD detectives say in addition to blood evidence linked to Maleah being found at the apartment, Vence was also seen carrying a laundry basket from the apartment.
A judge set his bond at $1 million, but it was reduced on Monday to $45,000.
Friday, May 10, 2:15 p.m. Local activist Quanell X made explosive new claims on behalf of Maleah's mother, Brittany Bowens, about Maleah's stepfather, Derion Vence. Quanell said Vence was seen on a neighbor's security camera with bottles of Clorox and a garbage bag before Maleah was reported missing.
Quanell said Bowens previously threatened to break up with Vence because she found explicit pictures he sent to another man.
Thursday, May 9, 10:40 a.m. Maleah's mother is consoled by detectives after she shows up at scene where her husband's missing cars was found. "Where is my baby?," she cried.
Thursday, May 9, 10:30 a.m.: Police searched the trunk for evidence in the case, and later said they found a laundry basket and gas can.
"The car looks fine, everything on the car looks normal, the tires look OK," a law enforcement officer said. "Doesn't mean they weren't changed at some point. I don't know anything on that, really."
Police later said a trained HPD K9 sniffed human remains in the trunk.
Thursday, May 9, 10:20 a.m.: Missouri City police confirm the missing car belonging to Maleah stepfather has been found. A cab driver spotted it in a strip center parking lot near Highway 6 and Riverstone Blvd.
Thursday, May 9: The owner of Maleah's daycare told KHOU that they haven't seen her since April 26. The owner said Vence picked up his son Friday but Maleah wasn't with him.
Thursday, May 9: The search for 4-year-old Maleah Davis has resumed, Texas EquusSarch said Thursday morning.
The search group is telling its volunteers to be prepared for wet and muddy conditions, advising them to dress appropriately for the rainy forecast.
This morning's staging area is the 9700 block of S. Kirkwood in southwest Houston. EquuSearch says its teams will be on foot and on ATV searching "in some very specific areas" for any signs of the child and the vehicle she was last known to be in - her stepdad's stolen Nissan.
Wednesday, May 8, 1:30 p.m.: Houston police released new photos of the car tied to the disappearance of a Houston child and police want you to be on the lookout for it.
The car is a Nissan Altima with paper tag 330-92G9. It’s the car that Derion Vence was reportedly driving when he was allegedly assaulted and abducted along with his stepdaughter, 4-year-old Maleah Davis, and his one-year-old son.
The photos of the car were taken before Maleah disappeared.
Wednesday, May 8, a.m.: Texas EquuSearch says its volunteers have halted all search efforts for Maleah Davis, the little girl who was reportedly kidnapped on Friday evening.
Poor weather conditions and saturated grounds have made search efforts difficult for the time being.
Tuesday, May 7, 4 p.m.: Search efforts were suspended due to severe weather in the Houston area.
Tuesday, May 7, 2 p.m.: A spokesman for Sugar Land police said Vence’s story on how he got to the hospital has changed since he first spoke with investigators and it didn’t add up.
Tuesday, May 7, 12:30 p.m.: Search efforts are moved to southwest Houston near the family's apartment complex on Bissonnet at Kirkwood.
Tuesday, May 7, 12:00 p.m.: “It's a process of elimination. I think we've done about everything we can do up here," said Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller. He said he feels they have pretty much covered the area where Maleah’s stepfather claims she was kidnapped.
Tuesday, May 7, morning: Texas EquuSearch volunteers were back out in a wooded area near the Eastex Freeway and Greens Road.
Monday, May 6, 6:30 p.m.: Maleah's mother, Brittany Bowens and Maleah's grandmother, Brenda Bowens, speak out about her disappearance.
Monday, May 6, 6.p.m.: Volunteers meet in Sugar Land to hand out fliers with Maleah's photo.
Monday afternoon: Dozens of EqquSearch volunteers braved the heat and spent hours searching for Maleah in a wooded area near Bush Airport.
Monday, May 6, 11:28 a.m.: "We're hoping for the best, but expecting the worst," EqquSearch founder Tim Miller told KHOU. He got choked up when he talked about how tough missing kid cases are.
Monday, May 6, 10:30 a.m.: A Texas EquuSearch team of volunteers joined the search for Maleah. They began searching on foot and ATVs around 10:30 a.m. near Hwy. 59/Eastex and Greens Road, not far from Bush Intercontinental Airport.
That's where Maleah's stepfather, Derion Vence, told investigators he had car trouble as he was driving to the airport to pick up the girl's mother.
Sunday, May 5, p.m.: Family and friends spent Sunday evening handing out flyers with Maleah's photo at Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land.
"It's a child," Dominique Bryant said. "There are families out here with children. We're just asking them to share the flyer on social media."
Bryant reminds everyone that time is of the essence.
"It's the most important thing right now," Bryant said. "I know a lot of people are tied up with the story and what's true or not true, or what makes sense, but that's not important right now. The focus is getting her home safely and as soon as possible."
Sunday, May 5, 12:18 p.m. Houston police hold a news conference with more details about Maleah's disappearance.
Sunday, May 5, afternoon.: Houston police released video from traffic cameras that captured the 2011 Nissan Altima Vence was driving. The vehicle was in Sugar Land around 3 p.m. Saturday. It had recently been purchased and has temporary tags with the license plate 3092G9.
Sunday, May 5, 8:27 a.m.: An Amber Alert was issued for Maleah. Police were not only looking for the 4-year-old, they were looking for the blue Chevrolet crew cab pickup that the alleged suspects were driving as well as a stolen Nissan Altima, which has now been located.
Sunday, May 5, 6:57 a.m.: Houston police sent a press release with information about Maleah's disappearance.
Saturday, May 4, around midnight: HPD was notified that Maleah was missing.
Saturday, May 4, 9 to 10 p.m.: Vence arrived at Sugar Land Methodist Hospital with his son. He was treated for a head injury. The child wasn't injured.
Saturday May 4, night: Vence said he walked around, asking for help but everyone ignored his pleas.
Saturday, May 4, 6 p.m. Vence said he was in and out of consciousness and didn't really know where he was until 6 p.m. Saturday.
He told police he woke up somewhere off Highway 6 in the Sugar Land area with his son in his arms. There was no sign of Maleah.
Friday, May 3 or Saturday, May 4: Vence said he woke up at one point and was in the back of the pickup truck with both children.
Friday, May 3, night: Maleah's mother, Brittany Bowens, who had been flying in from Massachusetts, called her mother to pick her up from the airport when Vence didn't show up.
Friday, May 3, after 9 p.m.: While he was near Highway 59 and Greens Road, Vence said he heard a noise and pulled over to check one of his tires. While he was out of his car, he says he was approached by two men who were in a blue Chevrolet pickup truck.
"Two Hispanic males get out. One of the men makes a comment, that Malia looks very sweet, looks very nice," said Mark Hollbrook with Houston police homicide. "One of the males hits Derion in the head. Derion loses consciousness.”
Vence said the men put him, Maleah and his son in their blue pickup and drove off.
Friday, May 3, night: Derion Vence, told investigators he was driving to Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday, May 3 with Maleah and her younger brother. He said they were headed to pick up Maleah's mother, who was returning from her father's burial in Massachusetts.