Missing girl dead and sister rescued after 'human trafficking'

US News

By Patrick Reilly

A 4-year-old girl was found dead and her 6-year-old sister was rescued from a gruesome scene involving small animal cages that may be linked to human trafficking, police in Mississippi said.

The grisly scene in Jackson on Thursday comes a day after the girls' mother, Callie Burnett, 35, was found murdered 130 miles away in south Louisiana.

The main suspect is Burnett's boyfriend, Daniel Callihan, WDSU reported.

Jalie Brunett, 6, was found alive inside a car in a wooded area in Jackson on Thursday. The body of her younger sister Erin was located a few feet away, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said, according to WVUE.

“Based on the crime scene, what it looks like, this may be the location where human trafficking occurred,” Joseph Wade of the Jackson Police Department told reporters during a press conference. “We see cages, cages for small animals.”

Julie was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries for treatment.

Investigators are trying to determine how Erin died.

“You don’t want to see that as a police chief. You don’t want to see that as a father,” Wade said.

“A coward took this child from his family.”

Callahan led cops to the girls after a passerby accused him of acting suspiciously, authorities said.

Burnett, the girls' mother, was missing for more than 24 hours before she was found “savagely murdered” in the bedroom of her Loranger home Thursday, authorities said.

Her children, who were reported missing by their father on Wednesday, were nowhere to be found when the body was discovered, police said.

The children were kidnapped before 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to Louisiana State Police.

An Amber Alert was issued after noon, indicating that a man was wanted for questioning in connection with a domestic violence incident that resulted in Burnett's death.

Law enforcement has not yet had a chance to question Callahan, officials said.

The Postal Service has contacted local agencies for additional information.