Nevaeh Buchanan's Body Possibly Found

Missing Michigan Girl, 5 Year Old Neveah Buchanan's Body Possibly Found

Authorities in Michigan believe that they have found the body of a 5-year-old girl who disappeared while bicycling last week.

Nevaeh - "Heaven" spelled backwards - Buchanan, 5, was last seen May 24 outside her apartment in Monroe, Michigan.

Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield of Monroe County said the body appears to be that of Nevaeh Buchanan, who was last seen May 24 outside her apartment complex in Monroe, southwest of Detroit.

The perpetrator remains at large, Crutchfield said.

"That person, to our knowledge, is still out there in the community," he said. "In my opinion, it is a very sick or disturbed person we are looking for, a person that is able to abduct and murder an innocent 5-year-old child."

Crutchfield said the body was found buried in a rural area alongside a river. "There was a material present on the grave site ... that appeared to be some type of cement or concrete," he said at a news conference.

CNN affiliate WDIV reported that a father and son were fishing at the river when they "spotted a block of poured cement and noticed a bad smell." They chipped away at the cement and saw skin.

Watch authorities swarm the scene »

Ryan Bickley, 15, told WDIV that his that father picked away the cement, revealing what appeared to be human flesh.

"He called me, and he was hysterical," Bickley said. "He saw flies around it and that it was starting to crack, and when he bent down the smell got really bad."

Bickley said his father quickly backed away and called police.

The teen's father, Guy Bickley, told WDIV that he was shaken up by the discovery.
"I've got two children," he said. "It's pure evil. It's not mean or psycho. It's just pure evil."
He added, "That poor little kid. It's terrible."

Crutchfield said he had no comment "on the cement issue other than there was some type of material present."

Authorities also found a shirt that matches the description of what Nevaeh is believed to have been wearing, he said.

Crutchfield vowed to use "whatever resources necessary" to find the perpetrator. The FBI is involved in the investigation.

The girl's family said they were having trouble accepting the news.

"I am not giving up hope yet, because I still feel that she is near me," Nevaeh's grandmother, Sherry Buchanan, told WDIV. "My son is a total tragic mess because of this. He has missed her every single day she has been gone, and now he is going to miss her for the rest of his life."