Police use cadaver dogs amid search for missing 8-month-old girl in Kentucky

REYNOLDS STATION, Ky. (TCN) – Investigators have arrested a 29-year-old woman and 30-year-old man on multiple drug charges amid a search for their infant daughter, who was last seen in April.

On June 6, Kentucky State Police started investigating the disappearance of 8-month-old Miya Rudd after a family member reported her missing. Troopers located Miya’s parents, Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd, and arrested them on charges relating to drug possession, drug trafficking, engaging in organized crime, child abuse, and abandonment of a minor.

Miya’s grandfather Ricky Smith was taken into custody on the same charges. Additionally, the child’s grandmother Billie Smith had an outstanding warrant for domestic violence, and she was arrested related to that incident.

Kentucky State Police said Miya Rudd was not found with any of the four people during their arrests.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Corey King told WFIE-TV that Tucker and Rudd have been on social services' radar for years. Authorities previously removed Miya’s three siblings from their custody due to a large drug presence in the home.

Miya was born in October, and her umbilical cord reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine. King said social services intended to remove Miya from Tucker and Rudd’s care, but when officials went to the home, the infant and her parents had disappeared.

Detectives ultimately traced Tucker and Rudd to a nearby hotel and found several drugs, including meth, pressed fentanyl, and Percocet pills, "in plain view."

However, Miya was nowhere to be found.

According to King, the family members who reported Miya missing said they had not seen the girl since April. Tucker and Rudd reportedly told investigators social services removed Miya when she was born. They allegedly have not been cooperating with law enforcement.

On Tuesday, June 11, Kentucky State Police investigators brought cadaver dogs to a wooded area near Miya’s home to search a cemetery, church, and residence. If the cadaver dogs are not able to locate her, King said they will utilize other special equipment.

King told WFIE there was no evidence to suggest Miya was kidnapped or sold, adding, "We don’t have evidence that she’s deceased, but we don’t have evidence to suggest that she’s alive, either. The longer this goes, the more grim of an outcome this will be."

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