On June 29, 2011, four-month-old Katherine Shelbie Elizabeth Phillips, known as Baby Kate, vanished from Ludington, Michigan. Katherine was last seen secured in a car seat in a silver 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue driven by her father, Sean Michael Phillips. According to the mother, Ariel Courtland, she stepped inside their apartment for about a minute to fetch a stroller; when she returned the car was gone with the infant still inside. Courtland’s phone was left in the vehicle and repeated calls went unanswered.

Authorities recovered the Oldsmobile and found Katherine’s car seat, diaper bag and clothing in the trunk, but the child was missing. DNA testing of Katherine’s personal items linked Phillips as her biological father. Phillips gave conflicting accounts, later writing that he had given the baby for adoption and in another letter claiming the infant had been accidentally killed and left in a peaceful place, but he did not disclose a location.

Investigators used techniques including forensic botany while searching for the child. Katherine remains missing and is listed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children with June 29, 2011, as her last seen date. Did anyone in Ludington in June 2011 see the silver Oldsmobile after that afternoon or know anything about where Baby Kate might have been taken?