Police make additional arrests as search continues for missing Kentucky baby
Kentucky State Police made additional arrests Tuesday during the search for an 8-month-old baby who reportedly hasn’t been seen for more than a month.
Police arrested the baby’s grandparents, Taletha and David Tucker, after serving a search warrant at their home in Owensboro on Tuesday, according to a news release.
However, police did not find the baby, Miya Rudd, at their Western Kentucky residence.
Taletha and David Tucker are the parents of Tesla Tucker, Miya’s mother.
Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd, the baby’s father, have been charged with abandoning her.
Police have searched for 8-month-old Miya without success locating her for several days. A state police spokesman reportedly told WHAS-TV that her parents have not cooperated in efforts to find her.
Grandparents charged in missing child case
State police arrested Taletha D. Tucker, 50, on a charge of being a fugitive from Indiana. David Tucker, 53, was arrested on a warrant charging him with non-payment in an earlier case, according to state police.
Troopers seized electronic devices during the search, the news release said.
Tesla Tucker’s other three children were living with her parents. State social workers took those three children to another location after arresting the parents, according to state police.
Timeline of events in Miya Rudd case
The search for the baby began after state police were asked to check on her.
Tesla Tucker told her mother that social workers had taken the baby from their home in Ohio County on May 1, but investigators confirmed that child-welfare workers and police had not removed the baby, according to an arrest citation in the case.
The citation said family members have not seen Miya since late April.
Police found the baby’s parents, Tucker and Rudd, at a motel in Owensboro. The two didn’t know where Miya was, the citation said.
Tucker and Rudd allegedly had a large amount of drugs with them.
In addition to child abandonment, they are charged with possession of fentanyl; trafficking in methamphetamine; first-degree child abuse; trafficking in marijuana; trafficking of legend drugs; and engaging in organized crime.
Police have arrested several other people as they tried to find the baby, including her other grandfather, Ricky Smith, 56, who was charged with first-degree child abuse, abandonment of a minor, engaging in organized crime and several drug offenses.
Police arrested the Miya’s other grandmother, Billie Smith, 49, on an outstanding assault warrant unrelated to the baby when they went to her house to search.
Police also arrested Timothy Roach, 37. Officers said as they pulled in at Smith’s house, they saw Roach throw a drug that had not been prescribed to him under a vehicle.
Police also have used dogs to search for Miya.
Anyone with information about the case has been asked to contact state police at (270) 826-3312.
