Amber Alert for Ludington infant, 4 mo.

LUDINGTON, Mich. (WOOD) - An Amber Alert was issued for a 4-month-old baby girl who police believe is in extreme danger, according to a news release.

Katherine Phillips is considered missing and endangered. She was likely taken from a Ludington home located at 922 E. Tinkham, investigators said.

She was last seen around 1:15 p.m. Wednesday. Katherine has no hair, blue eyes and weighs about 12 pounds. She was wearing pink shorts and a matching pink tank top with black and pink flowers.

Ludington police say she was taken by 21-year-old Sean Michael Phillips, but he and his vehicle were located. Katherine was not with him, officials said.

Phillips was arraigned Thursday afternoon on a charge of kidnapping-child enticement and is being held on a $500,000 bond. His preliminary exam is set for July 13.

Investigators need help finding potential witnesses who were seen launching a blue-and-white pleasure boat -- using a silver, four-door pickup truck -- at Hackert Lake (also known as Crystal Lake) on Wednesday afternoon. These possible witnesses were described as a family with children.

The Mason County Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police are blocking access to the lake. Sources told 24 Hour News 8 a Coast Guard helicopter was seen searching above the lake for hours earlier Thursday morning.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Mason-Oceana dispatch at 231.869.5858 or call 911.

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Mason County detectives searched a house in Victory Township where, sources told 24 Hour News 8, Sean Phillips lives with his father, Larry.

The only incident on Phillips' criminal record is a misdemeanor property destruction conviction in 2007.

24 Hour News 8 learned there are two court cases involving Phillips and the child's mother, Ariel Courtland.

In one case, Phillips agreed to a court order to take a DNA swab test to determine if he is the father of Katherine, who was born Feb. 12, 2011. It is unclear at this time if he took that test.

The second is a custody case involving a 3-year-old girl Phillips has with Courtland, which has been ongoing for months. He was ordered to pay child support in that case.

In a conversation with News 8, Courtland pleaded for the safe return of her daughter. She said she and Phillips were arguing at her home Wednesday when he took the infant.

Courtland fears she'll never see Katherine alive again, and said if the child is dead, she wants to find her so she can bury the baby.

She also said she took a lie detector test and passed it, primarily so she could be ruled out as a suspect.

A member of the Army National Guard, Phillips, according to court documents, is scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in July. However, Courtland said his deployment was pushed back to August.

Police were canvassing the apartment complex where Courtland lives, and said they have no reason to believe the infant is not alive.