Missing 15-month-old Raylee Marie Reed found safe, given to Cumberland County deputies

Missing 15-month-old Raylee Marie Reed has been found safe and handed over to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office on Saturday night.

Raylee Reed was reported missing Friday. Authorities had been searching for Lawrence America and 27-year-old Brandy Marie America for questioning in connection to Raylee Reed's disappearance.

On Saturday night around 10:45 p.m., Lawrence America called the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office and said he had Raylee Reed. By 11:45 p.m., he had handed her over to deputies.

Lawrence and Brandy America are cooperating with the investigation and are no longer wanted for questioning.

Details on the search for 15-month-old Raylee Marie Reed

When she was reported missing on Friday, the sheriff's office said Raylee was last seen several weeks ago on July 14 in a gray Nissan Titan driven by 55-year-old Lawrence America in the 6200 block of Raynor Road in Linden. The car has North Carolina registration with the tag RDX-2803.

The sheriff's office said Saturday that the investigation had revealed that in July 2022, Raylee was placed in the care of family member Violet Reed. On Tuesday, Violet had her custody rights revoked, and she no longer has legal custody of Raylee Reed.

The mother of Raylee Reed said America was in a relationship with Violet Reed.

When asked why the missing child was reported Friday after she went missing nearly a month ago, the sheriff's office said "they don't control when people decide to report missing cases."

The sheriff's office said Raylee and America are not related.