Daniel Callihan Arrest: Louisiana Mother, Daughter Murder Suspect Arrested, Second Child Found Alive, Authorities Say

CNN
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A Louisiana man was arrested Thursday after a 35-year-old mother was found dead and her two abducted daughters were later found in Mississippi — one dead and the other alive — in what according to investigators, could be a case of human trafficking.

The suspect, Daniel Callihan, 36, is accused of “committing brutal and heinous acts of violence,” including the murder of Callie Brunett and her 4-year-old daughter, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said , just north of New Orleans.

Jackson investigators said the wooded neighborhood where the girls were found had signs the place could have been used for human trafficking, including cages for small animals.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragic event. These are unspeakable crimes,” Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said in a social media post. “We ask everyone to keep Callie's family in your prayers.”

Earlier Thursday, an Amber Alert was issued for Brunett's abducted daughters, ages 4 and 6, after the mother was found dead in her home, according to Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office Chief Jimmy Travis .

After hours of searching, law enforcement in Jackson, Mississippi – about a two-hour drive from Tangipahoa – found the suspect and discovered a “tragic scene,” the Jackson police chief said, Joseph Wade.

After a short chase, Callihan was arrested in a wooded area near a home and the 4-year-old's body was found unburied in the woods behind the home, according to Wade. The other sister was found injured and taken to hospital.

“It's very, very disturbing for me as a police chief and as a father to witness and see what I just saw,” Wade said of the scene.

Due to signs of “human trafficking” at the scene, Jackson authorities contacted the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and Hinds County human trafficking divisions, Wade said.

“We’re going to work this crime scene with a scalpel,” he said. “It’s going to take a long time to process it.”

Many questions remain, Wade said, including why Callihan would take the children to Jackson and why the child was killed.

Although Callihan had not yet been interviewed as of Thursday evening, investigators believe the suspect lives in Louisiana and has dated Brunett “on and off,” Travis said. When the Amber Alert was issued Thursday, it said a man, later identified as Callihan, was wanted “for questioning regarding an incident of domestic violence that occurred around the time of the kidnapping and resulted in a homicide.”

Investigators' top priority will be interviewing Callihan and caring for the surviving 6-year-old victim, Travis said.

“She experienced something that most of us hopefully never get to experience. And she’s going to have to spend the rest of her life living with that,” the chief said.

CNN has contacted the Jackson Police Department and the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office for more information.