“WARNING: What Happened to This 6-Year-Old Will Stay With You | True Crime Documentary

This morning for missing six-year-old Faith Swetlik. The last time we heard from investigators yesterday evening, they told us that they are following up on every lead and asking for help from the public to help bring this little girl home safely.

Just before 3:00 p.m., 6-year-old Fay Marie Swetlik skipped off the school bus from Springdale Elementary School. She met her mother, Selena, and they walked the short distance back home, talking about their days. Fay was described as bright, funny, and lively, with bundles of energy. Selena called her her magical little fairy that always wanted to play and have fun. Her mother said she loved everyone and everything, and always wanted people to be as happy as she was. Selena said her daughter was always the first one to give a compliment, even randomly to people she’s never met before. We couldn’t go anywhere without her stopping three or four different people to compliment them, be it their hair or if a color looked good on them, and she always wanted to make new friends.

When they got home, Fay had a small snack before she went out to play in the yard—something she did a lot, with neighbors confirming they often saw her. Selena was regularly checking outside and keeping an eye out, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A neighbor reported to having seen Fay running towards a shared fence with NAPA Auto Parts sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. At around 3:45 p.m., Selena checked outside again; her daughter Fay was gone. After running around to all the neighbors, making several calls, and searching the area, she phoned 911 at 5:00 p.m.

“All right, you tell me exactly what’s happening.”

“I can’t… We can’t find my daughter. She was playing outside, and now I can’t find her.”

“How old?”

“She’s going to be seven in June.”

“All right. All right, I’m going to stand on the line with you, but I’m going to get Casey… Casey PD on the line too, but I’m going to stay on the line so don’t hang up, okay? Okay, ma’am. All right, ma’am, you’re on the phone with Casey, go ahead.”

“Yes, ma’am. Can you tell me what your son’s name is?”

“Uh, my daughter’s name is Fay Swetlik. F-A-Y-E.”

“Hold on, hold on. What was the first name again?”

“Fay. Fay, F-A-Y-E, yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, what’s your last name?”

“Swetlik. Spell that for me: S-W-E-T-L-I-K.”

“Okay, and what was she wearing?”

“Uh, she was wearing a polka-dotted rain boot, uh, um, a flowered skirt.”

“Okay.”

“And, um, a black… What kind of shirt?”

“A black t-shirt that has, um, a neon design on it.”

“And how long has she been out?”

“Um, last time I… last I saw her was probably about an hour ago.”

“How tall is she?”

“Uh, she is 3 foot 10.”

“3 foot… how much does she weigh?”

“Uh, 65 lbs.”

“All right, you last saw her in the front yard. You didn’t see which way she went or anything like that?”

“No, she was… she was right, right in front of my front porch.”

Minutes later, the police arrived at the house, and by 5:30, 50 responders would be on scene. Everything was moving at a rapid pace, and at 6:00 p.m., the Federal Bureau of Investigation got involved, as well as the community springing into action. Everyone wanted to help, but police urged citizen volunteers to stand down and let the professionals handle the search.

Chad Swetlik, Fay’s father, was soon informed that she was missing, and FBI agents would soon be at his house to search it. But Fay wasn’t there, and phone records would later confirm that Chad was at home at the time his daughter had gone missing. Officers had already started going door-to-door and asked neighbors with security cameras to contact them and turn in any footage.

“Comes to checking on those home security cameras, that’s something that, uh, we’re already doing. Certainly, we’ll be going, uh, continue to go door-to-door, and, and then even revisit some of these doors a second time.”

Ashley Hunter, a spokesperson for the city of Casey, asked that the community continue to share recordings with law enforcement.

“People in the community, uh, in the Churchill Heights community, if you have, uh, home security systems, uh, Ring wise video, anything like that, talk with our investigators and, and let them reach out and, and obtain some of that video.”

The FBI provided a helicopter, and K-9 officers were deployed as well. Despite all of this, Department of Public Safety’s Chief Byron Snellgrove said at the time there did not appear to be enough evidence to point to this being an abduction, and Fay’s disappearance didn’t meet the criteria for an Amber Alert. At 7:00 a.m. the next morning, a hotline was set up, and almost 300 tips would come in. Police would follow up on every lead, but nothing came back. More than 250 officers and investigators from agencies across the country had now joined in the hunt for Fay. Roadblocks were set up around the Churchill Heights area, and every car coming in and out was searched. It had now been almost 24 hours since Selena had made the 911 call. A press conference was held to share some more details.

“We’ve all been gathered here for one thing today, and that’s to find Fay. The last time Fay was seen, she was wearing a black shirt with the word peace across the front of it. The photos that you have, her hair is a little bit longer, uh, than it is today. We’re trying to get pictures of that, but that’s been cut to about shoulder length or just above. Fay’s parents are anxiously awaiting her return. What we would like to ask is that you hold on to a phone number: 803-205-4444. And we specifically ask that the residents of Churchill Heights here in Casey who have cameras, such as surveillance cameras around their houses, uh, uh, doorbell cameras, Ring doorbell cameras, anything like that, anything that records, and have any type of recording on their devices between the time of 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. yesterday, please call us at that number. Let us know that you have that recording. We’ll come get it, look at it, and it may be key in us proceeding with this case. Now, again, we’re here for one reason: we’re here to find Fay.”

 

Authorities still didn’t know if Fay had simply walked away from her home and become lost, or maybe injured, or if she’d been abducted, but by now it was seeming less and less likely that the six-year-old had gone off of her own accord. Investigators released footage from the local school bus to show everyone what Fay was wearing that afternoon, hoping to generate some more leads. She was wearing polka-dot rain boots and a black t-shirt with the word peace on it.

During their intensive search, authorities interviewed a number of people, including Selena, her live-in boyfriend Carter, and Fay’s father Chad. At this point in time, police said they weren’t ruling anyone out, and one of the detectives said there were no clear suspects. But members of Fay’s family would soon be cleared after searches of homes, analysis of phone records, and alibis ruled everyone out. On February 12th, police released an image of two cars seen leaving the area Fay lived in around the time she was last seen, but the drivers of the cars were quickly located and ruled out as well, and the police were back at square one. There was still no sign of Fay and no clues pointing to where she might be.

The morning of Thursday, February 13th, was the scheduled day for the bins…

“Who came to pay their respects to Fay. And before the service tonight, people lined the streets for this procession from her home in the Churchill Heights neighborhood to the church. This colorful tow truck carried Fay, her mother, and her pink bicycle to the service. David Bates is the owner of Diligent Towing in Lexington. He’s also a neighbor and friend of Fay Swetlik’s family, so he reached out to Fay’s family and asked how he could help. He offered up his pink tow truck to escort Fay’s mother and her ashes to Trinity Baptist Church for her memorial service.”

“The community’s come together 100%. I mean, we’re all blessed to be a part of this.”

“The pink truck towing Fay’s bicycle on the back joined dozens of motorcycles and tow trucks with a two-mile procession to the church. One by one, motorcycles and trucks pulled into the church, greeted by hundreds more there to show their respect for the little girl who made a big impact during her short time here on Earth.”

 

“Fay will be somebody that we remember for the rest of our lives.”

Hundreds of people, including first responders and officers, turned out to pay their respects, with many wearing pink and purple—Fay’s favorite colors. In Selena’s words, the sparklier the better. Fay loved getting letters and writing notes, so journals were set up, and her family wanted everyone to write a few words or draw a picture in colorful pens.

It would take a year for the authorities to officially close the case. It’s impossible to know exactly what happened that afternoon and why it did. Police confirmed that all the evidence pointed one way, but sadly there are still so many more questions that can never be answered. No motive has ever been determined for the crime, and likely never will be. Cody left no suicide notes or any other information in his home indicating why he had done this. Multiple agencies have tried to access the data from Cody’s phone but have not succeeded, and no evidence was found on his computer. While Casey police concluded their part, the FBI investigation is still ongoing, as is a review by the State Law Enforcement Division.

In July 2021, the director of Casey Department of Public Safety, Byron Snellgrove, who played such a vital role in Fay’s case, announced his retirement after more than 35 years in law enforcement.

“For me, after 65 hours of searching, the memory of finding the small body of Fay Marie Swetlik in a shallow grave on the morning of February 13th, 2020, will never ever leave me.”

This tragic case has taken a toll on officers who were dedicated to finding her. Nearly 1 year later, they haven’t forgotten; the disappearance and murder of Fay Marie Swetlik immediately became and always will remain incredibly personal for each of us. Fay’s death evidently had a profound impact on the community in which she lived—one that will continue to be felt for a long time to come. Springdale Elementary School unveiled a buddy bench that had been dedicated in memory of Fay.

“If you feel like you don’t have a friend to play with, you can go to… you can sit down on a buddy bench and somebody else will come and sit down with you and talk to you, or somebody will come up to you knowing that you meet your friend. And then, I mean, kids are awesome that way, and then they can go and play together.”

In Selena’s eulogy for her daughter, she asked that people continue to honor Fay’s memory through love, something she said was the most important magic. She asked that they try and be a little more like Fay: to be more kind, to compliment a stranger, to dance in the rain, to stop and smell the flowers, to just show a little bit more love to everyone you meet.