A man who reported the disappearance of a girl arrested during his disappearance

HOUSTON – The man who had announced last weekend that Maleah Davis, aged 4, had been kidnapped, was arrested near Houston for his disappearance. Police said that they found her in her apartment.

Derion Vence, who was living with Maleah and his mother, was arrested Saturday at his brother's home in Sugar Land, Texas, about 35 kilometers southwest of Houston, without incident, according to a Houston police statement. A court document says he's been accused of tampering with a human corpse.

When asked if the police believed that Vence had killed Maleah, Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said: "At the moment, these are the charges we have laid and I can not say more."

After his arrest, bail was set at $ 999,999 for Vence, according to the Harris County Archives.

Vence, 26, told police last Saturday that men in a van had kidnapped him, Maleah and his 2-year-old son, before releasing him, as well as the boy. But the Sugar Land police, who initially interrogated her, said her story kept changing and she was not moving forward.

Houston police said Saturday that some of his claims were false.

Vence said his silver Nissan Altima had been taken during the kidnapping, but a surveillance video showed that this vehicle had been used to drop Vence later in a hospital where he had reported for the first time the Abduction, police said.

"Her story has turned out not to be the case, including the fact that there was evidence of blood in the apartment related to Maleah," Smith said.

He added that the authorities had not found the girl and that the investigation was continuing.

According to the police statement, Vence was seen carrying a complete laundry basket in the apartment. This basket was then found in the trunk of the Nissan with a gas can.

Maleah's mother, Brittany Bowens, said through a spokesperson that Vence was his former fiancé. Bowens appeared outside his apartment on Friday as Quanell X, a local civil rights activist, spoke to reporters on his behalf.

Quanell X said that Vence had mistreated Maleah and that Bowens thought Vence had harmed the girl.

The police described Vence as Maleah's father-in-law. But Quanell X said that Vence and Bowens were arguing recently and that she broke their engagement.

Child protection services removed Maleah and her brothers from home that Vence and Bowens shared in August after the girl was injured in the head, but the children were fired in February, according to a door -speaker of the agency.

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This version of the story corrects the spelling of the suspect's first name to Derion. The Houston police initially spelled it out to Darion but now says it's Derion.