The parents and grandparents of a missing baby girl have been arrested as Kentucky police continue to search for the eight-month-old.
Miya Tucker was reported missing last week after state troopers carried out a welfare check at her parents’ home in Ohio County and the infant was nowhere to be found.
The baby had not been seen by her family ‘since the end of April’, an arrest citation revealed. Police say she was last suspected to be in the care of her mother Tesla Tucker, 29, and father Cage Rudd, 30.
The family members were not charged with any crimes directly relating to baby Miya’s disappearance.
Cadaver dogs were brought to the family’s residence on Tuesday to search the property and nearby woods, however there were no signs of Miya. Police have now said they have ‘no evidence she’s deceased, but no evidence she’s alive, either’.
Miya Tucker, eight-months-old, (pictured) was reported missing last week after state troopers carried out a welfare check at her parents’ home in Ohio County, Kentucky. She not been seen by her family ‘since the end of April’, an arrest citation revealed
Police say Miya was last suspected to be in the care of her mother Tesla Tucker, 29, (left) and father Cage Rudd (right). Tucker and Rudd, 30, were arrested on June 6 at Motel 6 in Owensboro, located about 25 miles away from their home in Reynolds Station, on multiple felony drug charges and abandonment of a minor
Miya’s parents were arrested on allegations of child abandonment and drug charges last Thursday after police found them in a room at a Motel 6 with drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, ‘in plain sight’, WFIE-TV reported.
Her grandparents Ricky J. Smith and Billie J. Smith, as well as another man, Timothy L. Roach, have also been arrested in connection to the investigation.
Tucker and Rudd were arrested on June 6 at the motel in Owensboro, located about 25 miles away from their home in Reynolds Station, on multiple felony drug charges and abandonment of a minor.
Kentucky State Police trooper Corey King told the TV station that the parents were caught in possession of a large quantity of drugs and had no information about Miya’s whereabouts.
He added that they were ‘not being very cooperative with our investigation’.
The following day, officials filed additional drug related charges against the pair, as well as felony charges of first-degree child abuse and engaging in organized crime.
Police also arrested Ricky Smith, who had been living with the couple, on June 7 on drug trafficking charges, first-degree child abuse, abandonment of a minor, and other felony drug and gun charges.
Investigators believe he had been using the couple’s home as his base for drug trafficking, Fox News reported.
The trio were all being held in the Daviess County Detention Center and appeared in Ohio County District Court on Monday for arraignments.
Miya’s grandparents Ricky J. Smith (left) and Billie J. Smith (right) have been arrested in connection to the investigation
Police also arrested Timothy L. Roach (pictured) at Billie Smith’s home after officers saw him throw ‘unprescribed’ opioids under his vehicle. Roach was charged with second-degree possession of a controlled substance and first-degree prescription controlled substance not in a proper container
Miya’s grandmother, Billie J. Smith, 49, was arrested on Friday after police went to her residence to look for the missing infant and discovered she had an outstanding warrant from October 2023.
She has been charged with second-degree domestic violence assault and was being held in the Ohio County Detention Center. She was released Tuesday afternoon on a $10,000 unsecured bond.
Police also arrested Timothy L. Roach at the grandmother’s home after officers saw him throw ‘unprescribed’ opioids under his vehicle.
Roach was charged with second-degree possession of a controlled substance and first-degree prescription controlled substance not in a proper container.
He we also taken to the Ohio County Detention Center, according to The Louisville Courier Journal. It is unclear what his relationship is to the family.
Kentucky State Police removed Miya’s three older siblings from Tucker and Rudd’s home awhile ago.
Miya, whose umbilical cord tested positive for meth after her birth in October, was expected to join her siblings on May 30.
However, other family members contacted police after not having seen the girl since late April.
When officials located the girl’s parents, they alleged that Miya had been taken by Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services – but police say this is not true.
Kentucky State Police removed Miya’s three older siblings from Tucker and Rudd’s home awhile ago. The couple are pictured together with one of their children
Investigators, with the help of cadaver dogs, spent several hours on Tuesday searching roughly five acres of woods near the couple’s home, but found no sign of missing Miya. Police have now said they have ‘no evidence she’s deceased, but no evidence she’s alive, either’
Investigators, with the help of cadaver dogs, spent several hours on Tuesday searching roughly five acres of woods for the missing girl.
But as of Tuesday afternoon, Miya is still missing, with police claiming there is ‘no information that anyone has her, that they sold this child, or that this child was abducted’.
Trooper King, launching an appeal for any information about her whereabouts, pleaded: ‘If someone is holding her for them, come forward. You won’t be in trouble.’
He said that investigators remain ‘hopeful and optimistic’, but the longer Miya remains missing the ‘more grim of an outcome this will be’.
King added: ‘Everyone’s looking for closure. I believe the community deserves it. The family deserves it, and we as an agency investigating this deserve to know what happened to baby Miya.’
