Decomposed body of missing 8-month-old Kentucky girl found in rural home, state police say | WDRB News

OHIO COUNTY, Ky. (WDRB) — The decomposed body of what is believed to be 8-month-old Miya Rudd was found Friday hiding in an Ohio County home, police said from the state of Kentucky.

The little girl had not been seen since April, but investigators were only recently informed of her disappearance. The case was the subject of a week-long search in the rural area southeast of Owensboro.

Kentucky State Police said detectives found the body of an infant matching that of Miya Rudd at 1:15 p.m. Central time Friday at the family's Ohio County home.

“The investigator was fulfilling the requirements of the search warrant by going room by room. We knew we were going to search this house high and low and examine every part of this residence,” said KSP Trooper Corey King.

King said the house was very cluttered.

“They located, under the debris, the body of what we believe to be Miya Rudd,” he said.

Just hours after the body was found, King said this type of discovery isn't easy for anyone, including investigators.

“We were actually really optimistic, as was the rest of the community,” King said. “We were hoping that maybe someone was holding this baby. But noticing that we had cadaver dogs, how we were sifting through debris in the yard, we obviously knew, in the back of our minds, that the end result wasn't going to be too promising.”

KSP said Friday's search included several locations, including an area of ​​the home's backyard where investigators were looking for any small signs that could be linked to Miya. The investigation is ongoing, King said, adding that it is now evolving into a death case and the next steps include determining the cause of death.

“It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “I think, at least, at this point, it's kind of closure, not only for our investigators but for the community as a whole. … For the community as well as for our detectives, it's the beginning of “a start to the healing and closure we need. But it's far from over.”

Before the body was found, state police searching for baby Miya dismantled an alleged drug ring.

KSP said they were looking for Miya after police officers went to the parents' home on a welfare check and couldn't find her. Miya's parents, Tesla Tucker, 29, and Cage Rudd, 30, have previously been arrested for drug possession, child abuse and abandonment of a minor. They were in court this week to answer drug charges and will be arraigned next week on abandonment of a minor charge.

“Without any cooperation from the people who should know where this child is, this is (the search) we have to do,” King said Friday before the body was found.

In addition to the baby's parents, police also arrested Miya's paternal grandparents, Billie J. Smith and Ricky Smith. Billie Smith was arrested on a domestic violence warrant, and Ricky Smith is charged with abandonment of a minor and drug charges.

The baby's maternal grandparents, Taletha Tucker and David Tucker, were recently arrested on unrelated charges in Daviess County.

KSP said another man, Timothy Roach, was seen throwing non-prescribed suboxone under a vehicle as officers pulled into a driveway. Roach faces drug charges.

And another arrest took place on Thursday. Brodie Payne faces numerous drug charges for what KSP called “his role in the illegal drug operation organized at the Rudd residence.”

Hours before investigators discovered the body, King said, “What started this investigation was just the missing 8-month-old and usually when we deal with missing cases it's there that we focus and concentrate our efforts. But it has expanded so much. in a drug trafficking operation, and yet, without the cooperation of the family, it's different in that it's gone on for this long without any answers or evidence to suggest whether this baby is dead or alive. »

According to KSP, Payne lived in an RV behind the house where the body was found. King said the house where the body was discovered is the primary residence of the baby's parents and he believes Cage Rudd's parents lived there as well.

“You could say at least four to five people lived here for an extended period of time. At the time of his death, we don't know that yet because we're not really sure of the timeline,” King said.

KSP said the body will be taken by the Ohio County Coroner's Office and transported to the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office in Louisville.

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