Search continues for toddler who vanished Wednesday in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Review-Journal

3 years ago

Amari Nicholson (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Yolanda Everett, left, comforted by her sister D’Errica Perryman, both Amari Nicholson’s, a child missing in the area since last week, aunts during a press conference outside of Emerald Suites on Elm Drive and Paradise Road, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Emerald Suites shown on Elm Drive and Paradise Road where Amari Nicholson, a child missing in the area since last week, lives, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Yolanda Everett, aunt of missing child Amari Nicholson, addresses the media outside of Emerald Suites on Elm Drive and Paradise Road, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Heather Doto, left, program manager at Nevada Child Seekers, talks to Yolanda Everett, center, and D’Errica Perryman, both Amari Nicholson’s aunts prior to a press conference outside of Emerald Suites on Elm Drive and Paradise Road, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. Amari Nicholson has been missing in the area since last week. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Heather Doto, left, program manager at Nevada Child Seekers, and Margarita Edwards, executive director, display missing endangered juvenile flyers outside of Emerald Suites on Elm Drive and Paradise Road, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. Amari Nicholson, 2, is missing in the area since last week. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Margarita Edwards, executive director Nevada Child Seekers, addresses the media outside of Emerald Suites on Elm Drive and Paradise Road, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. Amari Nicholson, 2, is missing in the area since last week. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Missing endangered juvenile flyers are displayed outside of Emerald Suites on Elm Drive and Paradise Road, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. Amari Nicholson, 2, is missing in the area since last week. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Residents arrive at Emerald Suites on Elm Drive and Paradise Road where Amari Nicholson, a child missing in the area since last week, lives, on Monday, May, 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

The search for a toddler who went missing five days ago in central Las Vegas continued Monday as volunteers handed out flyers in the area where the boy disappeared and relatives pleaded for the public’s help.

Las Vegas police said Amari Nicholson, 2, was last seen Wednesday around 6 a.m. at the Emerald Suites, 3684 Paradise Road, near East Twain Avenue.

“We don’t have any leads,” said Amari’s paternal aunt, Yolanda Everett, of California. “It’s been five days now. The police are doing everything they can do. We are doing everything we can do.”

Police have released few specifics about Nicholson’s disappearance. Everett said the child was in the care of his mother’s boyfriend Wednesday morning at the Emerald Suites while Nicholson’s mother, Tayler Nicholson, was out of state in Colorado. The boyfriend told police that a woman showed up at the apartment the couple shared. The visitor claimed to be a paternal family member of Nicholson’s, and that she was there to pick up the child.

“He said he’d never seen the woman,” Everett said of the boyfriend’s account. “He just said she was related to my brother and that she took Amari from this complex, ran down the stairs, and we haven’t seen him since.”

Nicholson’s father, Jrygio Hayes, of the Reno area, was in Las Vegas over the weekend helping to search for his missing son. Tayler Nicholson could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

“Please help look and please share all posts of Amari help bring our baby home,” Tayler Nicholson wrote on her Facebook page late last week as she asked for help in finding her son.

Everett said several family members of Amari have had their homes searched by police since the child disappeared.

Volunteers with Nevada Child Seekers gathered at Elm Drive and Paradise Road at 10 a.m. to help resume the search for Amari. The volunteers were planning to continue searching and hand out flyers until 4 p.m., said Margarita Edwards, the nonprofit group’s executive director.

“We are hopeful he is safe and we are hopeful we can bring him back to his family,” Edwards said.

Las Vegas police received a report at 3:10 p.m. Wednesday indicating the child was kidnapped, according to Metro dispatch logs.

“Officers and detectives have been following any leads or tips which may lead to the location of the child,” police said.

Police said the child should be considered missing and may possibly be in danger. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (702) 828-3111 or Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.