MT. PLEASANT -- The week-long search for the 4-year-old Saginaw Chippewa Indian boy continues in Mt. Pleasant.
Thirty-eight different agencies and more than 130 volunteers are now involved in the search for Carnel Chamberlain, who disappeared last Thursday. Search crews have been focusing on a heavily wooded area near the boy's home on the reservation, but a tribal spokesman tells NBC25, the search could take them beyond the reservation boundaries.
Public relations director Frank Cloutier says the search remains a missing persons case, though authorities are treating it as a criminal investigation.
Carnel was reported missing on the Isabella Federal Reservation by his mother, Jaimee Chamberlain at 10:12 p.m. on June 21. Authorities believe Carnel went missing while he was under the care of his mother's boyfriend, Anthony Bennett. Bennett has not been named a suspect but remains a person of interest.
"There has been no arrest. He has been interviewed on a couple of occasions. He refused a polygraph test. He has not been cooperative, or his cooperation has been minimal,” Cloutier said.
Kevin Chamberlain, Jaimee Chamberlain’s cousin and the family spokesperson, said, “We have no choice but to look at [Bennett] as a very serious prime suspect."
The community is hosting a candlelight vigil Thursday at 9 p.m. at the tribal center on Broadway Road.
Carnel is described as three feet tall, weighs 37 pounds, and has short dark hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark colored Angry Birds T-shirt. Anyone who's seen him is asked to call the Saginaw Chippewa tribal police at (989) 775-4700.
