LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The search for the missing 8-month-old has finally ended.
Kentucky State Police (KSP) detectives said they found an infant's body "consistent" with Miya Rudd at 1:15 p.m. Friday.
Police said the decomposed body was found inside the family's home hidden in a "concealed manner."
"As you can imagine by gauging the outside of this house, it was equally cluttered and [there] was so much debris inside. There was a lot for investigators to go through and move and they located under a pile of debris the body of what we believe is Miya Rudd," KSP Trooper Corey King said.
After investigators process the scene, KSP said the baby will be taken by the Ohio County Coroner’s Office and transported to the Kentucky Medical Examiners Office in Louisville.
The investigation is ongoing by KSP, Ohio County Coroner’s Officer and Kentucky Medical Examiners Office.
This week, KSP began using cadaver dogs to try and locate Miya. They first searched around the family's home and then searched a church cemetery and the wooded area behind the church in Reynolds Station, which is about two hours southwest of Louisville.
A total of eight people have been arrested.
KSP said they opened a missing child investigation on Thursday, June 6, after a search warrant and welfare check concerning Miya, of Reynolds Station, was conducted.
Miya hadn't been seen by the family since the end of April, according to a police report.
KSP said they arrested the parents of the missing infant, 29-year-old Tesla Tucker and 30-year-old Cage Rudd, at a Super 8 in Owensboro on Wednesday, June 5. Miya wasn't with them and neither parent knew where the baby girl was. Police added that Tucker and Rudd were found with a "large amount of drugs."
They are both charged with first-degree trafficking in controlled substance (greater than 2 grams - methamphetamine), trafficking of ledgend drugs, trafficking marijuana, first-degree child abuse, abandonment of a minor and engaging in organized crime and possession of paraphernalia.
Late Friday night, KSP said both Tesla and Rudd were charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and failure of a person to report the death of a person.
Miya's grandparents, Taletha and David Tucker of Owensboro, were arrested on Wednesday, June 12.
Taletha Tucker was charged as a fugitive from another state (Indiana) and David Tucker was arrested for a non-payment warrant issued in Daviess County, Ky.
The Tuckers are Tesla's parents.
Court documents show that Tesla told her mother Taletha, who has custody of all Tesla's children, that social workers and officers went to Tesla's home on May 1 and removed Miya. However, authorities confirmed that no social workers or police had gone to her home to remove the infant.
The Tuckers and Miya's parents are currently booked at the Daviess County Detention Center in Owensboro.
Prior to Miya's maternal grandparents being arrested, another set of the baby's grandparents were also arrested.
Miya's grandfather, 56-year-old Ricky Smith, was arrested last week and charged with first-degree trafficking in controlled substance (greater than 2 grams - methamphetamine), trafficking of legend drugs, first-degree child abuse, abandonment of a minor, engaging in organized crime, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and persistent felon offender I.
KSP said he is also facing additional charges: abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and failure of a person to report the death of a person.
Three days later, police arrested Miya's grandmother, 49-year-old Billie Smith, on second-degree assault with a domestic violence warrant. Officers said the warrant stems from an incident in Daviess County on October 2023. Troopers were conducting a search/welfare check for the missing 8-month-old when they discovered Billie had an active warrant.
Billie is currently booked at the Ohio County Detention Center, and being held on a $25,000 cash bond.
As police were entering the driveway to the Smith's home, they said they saw 37-year-old Timothy Roach throw unprescribed Suboxone under his vehicle.
He was also arrested alongside Billie and taken to the Ohio County Detention Center.
Roach was charged with second-degree possession of a controlled substance and first-degree prescription controlled substance not in a proper container.
State troopers arrested the eighth person, 28-year-old Brodie Payne of Reynolds Station, on Thursday, June 13. He was charged for his alleged role in a drug operation at the Rudd residence.
Authorities said he lived at the house for about six months before he was arrested.
Investigators found Payne was using USPS for his drug trafficking operation, and they arrested him with a half pound of meth and less than a pound of suspected fentanyl laced pills.
He's charged with trafficking in controlled substance, trafficking of legend drugs, trafficking marijuana, engaging in organized crime and possession of paraphernalia and wanton endangerment.
On Friday, KSP said Payne is the fourth person in the case to be charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and failure of a person to report the death of a person.
Authorities said additional charges are likely as the investigation continues.
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