Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - SHOCK DISCOVERY: MISSING BABY MIYA, 8 MONTHS, FOUND WRAPPED IN PLASTIC IN KENTUCKY HOME

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A shock discovery. Missing baby Maya, just eight months old. Her remains found wrapped in plastic. How did that happen? And also, why did months go by without her being reported missing? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Kentucky State Police are desperately seeking information on eight-month-old Maya Rudd of Reynolds Station. A concerned family member reports last seeing Maya in late April. Troopers performing a welfare check are unable to locate the infant and are now turning to the public for help. Maya Rudd has brown hair and green eyes.

Starting point is 00:00:58 Anyone with information is asked to call state police at 270-298-3235. Light brown hair and green eyes. What could Maya have become? What would she be once she grew up? This beautiful, tiny, infant baby that could be so much is now just a statistic. Now all I've got is her description. Brown hair, green eyes. Just a few months old. And let me tell you something. There's going to be hell to pay. Again, I'm Nancy Grace

Starting point is 00:01:55 and this is Crime Stories. How does a baby go so long without being reported missing. Reminds me of another baby that goes missing and is not reported gone. Does the name Kelly Anthony ring a bell? If not, maybe the name Tot Mom Casey Anthony will listen.

Starting point is 00:02:24 My daughter finally admitted to the baby's in the store. I need to find her. taught mom, Casey Anthony, will listen. She just admitted to me that she's been trying to find her herself. There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today, and it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car. Okay, what is the three-year-old's name? Kaylee. C-A-Y-L-E-E. Anthony. Joining me in All-Star Panel to make sense of what we know right now, very often out to Mitch Carter, investigative reporter at WFIE 14 News Indiana. Mitch, people have often asked me,

Starting point is 00:03:07 why did you focus on missing Kelly out of all the stories? And I can tell you how it happened. Somebody said, well, there's a missing little girl, two or three years old out of Florida. I'm like, okay, how long has she been missing? And they said 30 days. I'm like, well, why am I just hearing about it right now? And somebody on the phone said, well, she's just been reported missing. I'm like, stop. We're doing that right there. Why was she not reported missing? And that's what I want to hear. I want to hear everything about this little baby, just eight months. So let's just take it from the top. Mitch Carter joining me, investigative reporter, WFIE 14 News. Mitch, start at the beginning when a welfare check was done by L.E. law enforcement.

Starting point is 00:03:57 Go. Well, yeah, Nancy, you know, to understand this case overall, you've got to go back here you know we know ksp tells us that you know back in april is the last time that family members tell them they actually caught sight of baby maya prompting them to do a welfare check in june here now on june 5th authorities say okay hold on hold on you're telling me something i don't know mitch hold on just a moment so family members somebody calls for a security check on Maya. Where's Maya? Thank heaven, or we would not have found Maya. Somebody gets suspicious.

Starting point is 00:04:37 And when LA law enforcement go to the family, they say they haven't seen her since April. Did I get that right? So like I was talking about there, you know, family reaches out to law enforcement and says they haven seen baby maya since april prompting this welfare check wait a minute the child the baby an infant just eight months old had not been seen since april i mean to robin drink joining me in addition to mitch carter wfie 14 robin behavioral expert former FBI special agent. Now listen to this part. Chief of the FBI counterintelligence behavioral analysis program and author of Sizing People Up, a veteran FBI agent's manual for behavior prediction. Robin Drake, that's pretty impressive, but enough about you and on to my Robin. Can I tell you, I know the precise moment when my twins left this morning to go to their job. They have a job this summer.

Starting point is 00:05:39 I know the moment because I happen to have my phone in my hand and I glanced down to see if they were going to be late. They were not, of course. But I glanced because I'd been hurrying them all morning. I remember that. And I can look and see when I got texts from them during the day. So how does somebody not notice their child has been missing for eight months. Well, you described what we all do in our lives,

Starting point is 00:06:09 and that is we establish a great baseline of what normal is in each of our lives. I'm the same way with my kids. I can tell, you know, I have two adult kids. I can tell immediately if something's gone awry by a change in communication. And that's what happened here. There was a change in communication and And that's what happened here. There was a change in communication and changing contact with the child. And yet no one was noticing this baseline. And that's what we really need to do.

Starting point is 00:06:32 We need as family and friends to notice these subtle changes and sometimes drastic changes and actually do something about it faster so we can prevent things like this. Well, I can't help but just wonder to Dr. Jeff Kalaszewski, renowned forensic psychologist, author of Dark Sides at darksides.podia.com. Dr. Jeff, I can't help but project a nefarious nature to this. Or is it true that some parents, you know, they hand the baby off to an aunt or a cousin and kind of just leave it there. And so I naturally attach something nefarious to not mentioning your child hasn't been seen. But I guess there could be an innocent explanation, not in my world, but maybe in their world. I mean, the baby is a tiny little baby. And I don't understand how you can just hand it off to someone and not check on it. Right. This really opens the door to a lot of questions.

Starting point is 00:07:36 You know, most reasonable people obviously know where their children are. And if their children are missing, they try to find out why they call law enforcement I have had several cases where similar to this it's not reported and the first thing you think about is you know our is there some malintent and not reporting even if something bad happened to the baby people at least would take the baby to the hospital to find out what happened. But this situation just really opens up the door to a lot of other questions about what's really going on in this home. Back to Robin Dreek joining us, behavioral expert, former FBI special agent. Robin, I have to accept, and I learned this when prosecuting. I mean, I grew up in a very rural, almost idyllic

Starting point is 00:08:27 childhood where we were very loved. So other lifestyles were foreign to me. But when you're investigating and prosecuting, you have to accept that other people have different lifestyles. And frankly, that's none of my business and I don't care. What anybody does, unless there's crime scene tape around it, then it becomes my business. So we have to accept that while we may not pack our children off to an infant at just eight months old, pack the baby off to go live with someone else or stay somewhere else.

Starting point is 00:09:07 Other people do that. And in their world, they think it's OK. It's very hard for me to relate to that. Absolutely. And you described even what this little child will have missed out on in a very idyllic you know beautiful healthy relationships with growing up but like you said everyone has a different pattern of normal in their lives and that's that's for every family to decide what that is but it's still a pattern and when we have a deviation from that pattern if we don't have the the contacts with whoever it is whether it's the aunts and uncles watching them or even just friends and family to watch them that will establish a a pattern. I used to see my grandmother every weekend growing up. That

Starting point is 00:09:47 was different than other families around me. But that was a pattern until it changes. And so a change should prompt these questions from people that are close enough to say, hey, what has changed? What's going on? And most importantly, is it a healthy change or is it a not healthy change? And what are we going to do about it? That very important what question requires specific action. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In addition to Mitch Carter, Robin Dreek, and Dr. Jeff Koleszewski, now joining me, a renowned prosecutor, former deputy state's attorney, former assistant state's attorney, specializing in child abuse and

Starting point is 00:10:33 homicide, Fran Longwell. Fran, we're discussing, thank you for joining us, Fran. We're discussing how in my world, for me not to see my infant child for even a day is unheard of. That would not happen, period. But you have to accept as a prosecutor, as an investigator, that other people have different lifestyles. And while that may not be okay with us, for them it may be normal for the baby to be gone from the home. That's true. I've had many cases where I was kind of shocked at how the people handled their children. Like what?

Starting point is 00:11:13 Just one time I said something about the child. How did the child get out of their crib to get in a case? And I found out they didn't sleep in a crib. They slept on the floor on a mattress and people just do live different ways so the baby slept on the floor okay I would find that odd too and I remember a friend long well I was investigating and stop me if you've heard this recount of a story but I was prosecuting a triple homicide and trying to find witnesses desperately and was knocking on doors. And I went into a woman's home. She had to be about 19 or 20.

Starting point is 00:11:53 And she had anywhere from 11 to 15 infant babies lying on the floor, all swaddled tightly so they couldn't really move. And there was like a soap opera or something going on on the TV. And they were all incredibly quiet, which also struck me as odd. And I when I got out of there, I felt like I just broke out of hell. But that was the way she lived. And the parents, I assume, knew that's how the babies were being taken care of. And like you said, I've seen families where children are not allowed to have any sugar, no cookie, no candy, no muffin, nothing. And they get in trouble if they have a Snickers bar or cookies at somebody's house. Then I've seen families, I just covered a case the other day, Fran, where a little girl, just absolutely precious, was fed nothing but

Starting point is 00:12:53 baby bottles of Mountain Dew till she developed diabetes and died. The mom stood by while all of her teeth rotted out and the baby died. The child died. I think she was four years old at the time. Nothing but bottles of Mountain Dew. But in this case, Fran Longwell, not just an alternative lifestyle, but the baby is missing and nobody reports it. How can you not look at that in a nefarious light? I think it's very strange. And when a child is, the grandparents or someone should have known that child was missing, just like you said in the other case

Starting point is 00:13:33 with the little girl that was dead. It's impossible to think that no one paid any attention to this poor little baby, a brand new baby, and didn't report her missing. And maybe the parents said she was around or she was with a babysitter. Who knows, you know? The search for infant Maya ends with her body being discovered in a Kentucky home wrapped in plastic. Before we revisit the fact that she went for weeks without being reported missing, back to Mitch Carter, investigative reporter, WFIE 14. Mitch, describe to me the condition

Starting point is 00:14:16 in which she was found. Yeah, well, talking with Kentucky State Police, she was found on Friday at 1.15 p.m. They found her inside, wrapped in plastic and a blanket. Underneath was some debris inside of that home. Hold on just a moment. Inside, okay, inside a home, wrapped in plastic, and then wrapped in a blanket under debris inside a family home? Was she wrapped in plastic, then a blanket, or a blanket and then plastic?

Starting point is 00:14:50 I think she's in a blanket. It's like inside the plastic with her, if that makes sense. We were told wrapped in all that. Okay, would you say that one more time? Because I still don't understand. Was she in? So she's like in a blanket, then wrapped in plastic. Got it.

Starting point is 00:15:04 You know, again, that's reminding me so much of the way that Kelly Anthony's body was found. She was in a black plastic trash bag and her favorite blanket was in there with her, which tells me a lot about who killed her. Someone that would pick out her blanket and bury it with her. Mitch, thank you for that. Straight out now to Dr. Michelle Dupree joining us, recognized forensic pathologist who shot to fame during the Alex Murdoch double murder trial, medical examiner, former detective, author of Money, Mischief, and Murder, The Murdoch Saga, the rest of the story. But for my purposes, she is also the author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide and Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide. She literally wrote the book. Dr. Dupree, you and I have investigated and covered a lot of homicide cases. And to me, it's very

Starting point is 00:16:07 significant that the scene was staged. It may be Maya's death. What do I mean by that? Anytime you move a body, touch a body, change a scene in any way, you have staged a scene. You may make the murder or the homicide look like a suicide. You may place a gun in the victim's hand. You may make the murder or the homicide look like a suicide. You may place a gun in the victim's hand. You may cover up the victim with a blanket. I've seen a case where a mother was shot dead and the killer put a wicker trash can over her head. I've seen bodies covered in leaves. I've seen faces covered, just all sorts

Starting point is 00:16:48 of staging. And this is staged. The baby is wrapped, as you heard Mitch Carter state, in a baby blanket and then in plastic and then hidden under debris. That tells me the killer knows the baby intimately. I want to hear what you have to say. Absolutely, Nancy. This is what we often call forensic countermeasures, meaning that it is an attempt to cover up basically the crime. So they knew that this had happened. They knew that it was wrong, and they're trying to cover it up by wrapping the baby probably in a favorite blanket and then putting it in a plastic bag. This is unfathomable. And to believe that someone did not recognize that this baby, this infant, who cannot walk, could talk,

Starting point is 00:17:32 had not been seen for so many days and did not report it sooner, I can't imagine that. It's unfathomable. Dr. Dupree, I don't know how you would, since the baby wasn't reported missing for so long, this beautiful baby Maya with her light brown hair and her green eyes and her world before her. Because she wasn't reported missing for so long, how can we tell when she was killed? Well, Nancy, we're going to look at several things. We're going to look at any of the scene markers. That means things that are around the scene where she's found. See if there's anything that will give us a clue to that time frame.

Starting point is 00:18:08 We're also, of course, going to take a very good look at the body itself. The body can tell us so much about what happened and when it happened. And, of course, the rate of the decomposition of that body. I'm curious, could you explain to everyone in your mind, Dr. Michelle Dupree, what is a quote, scene marker? I mean, for me, it would be if somebody was found and inside the trash bag, something indicative or probative of the day, like, I don't know, a newspaper, a magazine, a doctor's appointment schedule, a prescription, something that would give me a date. But there's so many varied scene markers. What do you mean? Give me an example of a scene marker. Well, Nancy, everything that you

Starting point is 00:19:02 said would be a scene marker. It is something that is going to give us a time of death or an approximate time of death. Mail that hasn't been opened, that's postmarked. The newspaper, as you mentioned. Anything like that that can possibly set the time

Starting point is 00:19:17 that is with the body, where it is found, either beside it, in the bag, or underneath it. Something that is going to help us knock down that time frame. So, Dr. Michelle Dupree, other than extrinsic evidence to give me a time of death or a date of death, other than extrinsic evidence such as, as you were saying, a scene marker,

Starting point is 00:19:37 how can you, the medical examiner, look at this baby girl, infant girl's body and determine how long she's been dead, especially since she is seemingly hermetically sealed in a blanket and plastic. I don't know if it's just a plastic bag or she's wrapped in plastic tape. Remember JJ and Tylee, cult mom Lori Vallow's children? Remember that Tylee was basically rendered down her body was rendered down like an animal at a slaughterhouse there's nothing but a bucket of flesh left of Tylee sweet gorgeous young girl JJ however was more along the lines of being hermetically sealed wrapped like a mummy in tape and carefully hidden away. The treatment of the two children, vastly different. So again, how do you look at a body, and I don't know how she was sealed in the

Starting point is 00:20:37 plastic, and determine date of death? Well, that's exactly what we do, Nancy, is we look at the environment. How warm was it? You know, what is the moisture content? How was the baby wrapped? Was it hermetically sealed or was it just simply put into a plastic bag? We look at that decomposition. We look at how that body decomposed, whether it is beginning mummified or that means leathery, or is it doing something else, you else, decomposing in a different way.

Starting point is 00:21:13 We also look at the internal aspect of the body when we do the autopsy. And we look at the organs, we look to see how they are decomposing or not and the speed of that. And there have been many studies done, especially you've probably heard of the body farm. And that's where we get a lot of our data from. So we're able to basically give good estimates. And as you know, time of death is only an estimate. And so that way we can narrow it down at least to a certain time frame. Joining us now on location is Trooper Corey King of the Kentucky State Police. Special guest joining us. Trooper Corey King. Thank you for being with us.

Starting point is 00:21:46 I sometimes wonder how you keep going when you see cases like this, when I would prosecute and investigate child murders, some babies as young as baby Maya. I couldn't sleep for literally weeks after prosecuting a case like that. Tell me about your involvement in the search for baby Maya. And this is a case that we haven't seen in quite some time. And frankly, I'm not so sure I have seen a case like this involving this young of a child. She's a baby. And I think really this case is surrounds and highlights

Starting point is 00:22:29 what drugs can do to our families. And we have said it a thousand times over that heroin kills a user, methamphetamine kills everyone else, and it bears repetition. That's the case with this particular family was the drug trade that came first, the addiction. And then, unfortunately, everything else was last. And what shocked us more than anything, probably at the very beginning, you see, this started out as a drug invested investigation. We didn't know there was a baby involved. And it wasn't until this investigation started to get closer and closer to the family did we realize that someone said, hey, you do know there's a six-month-old in this house. And we were unaware of that, at least us

Starting point is 00:23:15 and the state police. So then we had the questions, where's baby Maya? And we couldn't locate her. So when we closed in on the family and arrested them, located them with a plethora amount of drugs, that's fentanyls, that's methamphetamine, there was no baby. So when we went to go press them on where is baby Maya, they immediately wanted to seek counsel, which stopped all questioning and would not work with us at all on her whereabouts. Trooper Corey King. Yes, I know that any target, any suspect has the right to have counsel with them. They have the complete right to the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, as it should be under our Constitution. However, big, big big big however when you are looking for a missing baby just a few months old you think that somewhere in that addled brain of theirs

Starting point is 00:24:18 they would say okay i may have drugs in my home, but where's my baby? That's more important. That never dawns on them, does it? No, it doesn't. And that was the biggest shocker to us was that the entire family, it wasn't just mother and father. Even the grandparents was not actively or overly cooperative with us. And they certainly wasn't involved in the search for the baby either. So all of this was very suspect in general.

Starting point is 00:24:51 We certainly agree that, yes, based on the Constitution, certainly everyone has the right to seek counsel and stop questioning at any time. But we're talking about a baby in which we had several working theories in our mind. One, we thought, OK, someone's holding this child for the family because they knew social services were coming to get this child. Secondly, they sold the child, whether it be through human trafficking or maybe for profit for drugs. And the third, the most grim was this baby was dead and we would never find her. And that's where it was looking. The longer this investigation went, the more grim it looked. And we actually thought we would never find this child. We were very optimistic,

Starting point is 00:25:33 but I think we were searching several areas with cadaver dogs thinking they disposed of this body because he, the father was seen disposing of items in nearby creeks. And that's where we thought she was. So we had active scenes with cadaver dogs, but it wasn't until the second search of the property did we locate this baby buried underneath mounds of debris and trash and filth. And sadly, that was that baby's reality for six months.

Starting point is 00:26:07 Joining me is Trooper Corey King, Kentucky State Police, who was actively involved in the search for baby Maya. I've got so many questions. And the rest of the panel, remember, we are not having high tea at Windsor Castle. Jump in. Here's the source. Between Trooper King and Mitch Carter, we're going to get our questions answered. Did you say, I knew she was buried under debris inside of a home.

Starting point is 00:26:34 Could you describe that for me? So those folks that have seen the scene and many of our local partners, media partners are out there filming. There's a lot of debris on the outside, a lot of clutter, trashy, not too uncommon to see those who are addicted to drugs. That comes, that is priority. But the inside was equally as cluttered. And it was the front room in which we had been there one time before with a search. And there was so much drug residue, animal feces. So it really shocked all of us. And in fact, once we did find her in a bunch of underneath a bunch of rubble, we all had to go outside the house and collect ourselves. We were hopeful. We really were. We were hopeful someone's holding this baby. But unfortunately, the reality was we found her dead. And although we haven't made a 100 percent positive identification that comes through DNA, which we did get, we all know this is baby Maya. Trooper Corey King joining us,

Starting point is 00:27:37 Kentucky State Police. I need people to understand because the first time I heard this, I didn't understand it. When you say you had to stop the search, we just investigated the case of a baby boy, an infant who died in daycare. Why did he die? Because he breathed in fentanyl, particles of fentanyl that were in the air because the fentanyl itself was moved in his presence and I think put under a rug and the baby breathed in some particles and died. So if you had, you go in, you see drug residue, drug paraphernalia everywhere. If you had taken those dogs in and they had gotten one whiff of let's just say fentanyl, they'd die. So you have to back out. You can't go in. The canines

Starting point is 00:28:28 can't go in. Everything is off. And that's a heck of a predicament. You're looking for a potentially dead infant baby girl and you can't search because the house is so inundated with drug residue that you have to pull the dogs out. What can you tell me about that? Clearly, fentanyls are very transdermal. And depending on the type of fentanyls, which we weren't sure of, in fact, it's become so dangerous for us. We no longer test on site. We collect and then send off for the lab to do the work for.

Starting point is 00:29:02 But you're right. Breathing in is airborne, transdermally, it can absorb and we can overdose and die ourselves. Not to mention we have assistance through the canines, which are very sensitive through the paws of the animal, as well as our snout. So it can be very dangerous in that regard. But we wanted to ensure we knew pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyls were coming to this location. And that's what started the investigation off. But once we realized a baby was involved, it changed the whole dynamic and the direction of this investigation. All our hearts was looking. That's all we wanted. But unfortunately, everybody we went to that is involved in this family ended up getting arrested either for drugs or warrants.

Starting point is 00:29:47 And one of our detectives said it best is I've never seen, I never had an investigation like this to where we literally have taken down almost an entire family tree in a week and a half. And that's not what we're wanting to do. We were simply wanting this baby. And I really think that a picture's worth a thousand words. If I could tell you, I'll describe this to you. In one of the child's room, I can only assume the baby's room, there was a baby bottle, a pacifier, and Narcan sitting next to each other. That really said it all to me. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Kentucky State Police head to parents Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd's last known address in nearby Reynolds Station, hopeful they will locate Meyer Rudd there. Conditions inside the home are deplorable. The home is filthy, and troopers uncover more meth and fentanyl. Cage Rudd's father, Ricky Smith, is believed to be operating a drug trafficking scheme out of the home and is arrested on several drug and weapons charges.

Starting point is 00:31:06 There is zero indication that Maya Rudd is living in the Deanfield Church Road home. So if she's not there, where is she? The bio dad, the bio mom, extended families, and others, including the grandparents, their drugs are more important to them than baby Maya. Mitch Carter joining me WFIE 14 News Indiana. Mitch, where was defects in this scenario? Because it's my understanding, Mitch, and tell me if I'm wrong, other siblings have been taken removed from the home, but they leave the most defenseless child there just a few months old they leave her with the parents and the baby is born with meth in its system but they go oh yeah here take her home i'm sure you'll be great parents what the hey mitch yeah i mean that's kind of been the big talking point throughout this entire case you know for us and for those following along with the media, along with KSP, with Trooper King, is wondering, how did this happen?

Starting point is 00:32:11 Because any sane person, you and I talking right now, doesn't make any sense to us. And with that, I spoke with Corey King about that specifically several times here. And he told me that Friday before they found her remains, we talked, we had an interview beforehand, a couple hours before. And he told me that as far as he knows, they tested that umbilical cord. It tested positive for meth. However, it takes a couple of weeks for those results to get back. In that time, they lose track, you know, as social services does, of Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd and this baby. And henceforth, you know, months go by, and here we find ourselves now. Okay, Mitch Carter, you are a very well-known in that area,

Starting point is 00:32:49 investigative reporter with WFIE. I'm amazed that you kept a straight face just then when you said DFACs lost them and that, quote, months went by. Really? They couldn't find the baby? They weren't making a secret about where they were living. I know that's the information they told you. That's total BS. They've got a baby born with meth in its system. The parents are druggies and they give the baby over. Look, they need to take the other two children away, but they leave the baby, Mitch. Really? You believe that, that they couldn't find the parents? I mean, at this point, you know, we've reached out to social services to ask them kind of a slew of questions. They're mainly talking about the, you know, sort of protocol they follow, if that makes sense, to take a family,

Starting point is 00:33:46 to take a child away from the family. I'm sorry. I just choked. You're okay. Yeah, I choked when you said discussing following their protocol. Mitch, Mitch Carter, they're lying. They're lying, and they're covering their rear ends because they let the baby stay in the home, and now the baby's dead. A wonderful expose for you to work on.

Starting point is 00:34:09 Back to Trooper Corey King. And Mitch, please jump in, okay, with any information or questions for the trooper. Trooper Corey King with us, Kentucky State Police. Did you hear what they told Mitch? He's just reporting what he's been told. That is total BS. Of course, i'm not saying defects kill the baby i'm saying the family killed the baby and then hid the baby in plastic but that said defects knew this was a hell hole and they let the baby stay there yeah i think that's something that uh the the state as a whole will be looking into. They have

Starting point is 00:34:47 made some legislative changes within our state on accountability and who monitors what, particularly in this case, what social services can do and not do. And I know they have a tough job, but I can just tell you that this will be looked into because just like Mitch had mentioned, there was three other children removed. She was born. Odds are that this child was going to test positive for meth. And lo and behold, she did. And that's the question is, what happened from October to where we locate the child? Mitch Carter, WFIE 14. Isn't it true the family actually told police D-Fax had the baby? Yes, actually, that's true. You know, Corey King and I spoke, and he, like he mentioned there already to you, Nancy,

Starting point is 00:35:39 was that the folks who should know the most were saying the least. They were being extremely hard to work with, which is their right to plead the fifth and not speak. But with that, all he was told right away and all KSP was told was the family told them that social services had already taken the baby. And looking at their records, that was plainly just untrue. Okay, guys, I want to go to Robin Drake joining me, former chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program and author. Robin, this is the baby's family. They're lying. They are refusing to speak to police to protect their own drug paraphernalia and drug possession in the home.

Starting point is 00:36:17 Right there. That's a scream to you regarding red flags in their behavior. A hundred percent. Nancy, the thing that keeps screaming at me on this, we talk about, and I keep talking about these behavior arcs. They had three clues from social services that they shouldn't have this baby in this house, whether it was tested for meth or not. If you have three other siblings that are in protective custody of services, why not automatically put this baby in that? I mean,

Starting point is 00:36:44 it's really just profound. And also, I'm really curious about what other criminal activities they're going to be uncovering and maybe more tragedy because drug addicts do horrendous things to service their own needs. But I'm really curious about how come you have three children already in services and the one wasn't. Joining me in addition to an all-star panel is Trooper Corey King, Kentucky State Police. Trooper King, you mentioned that several of your people had to come outside and quote your words, collect themselves. I will never forget as a prosecutor coming up to a murder scene and I, the first thing I saw was an APD, Atlanta Police Department officer, outside, bent over, vomiting.

Starting point is 00:37:34 First thing I saw, I said, what happened to him? As I walked in, and they say, rookie. He had never seen a homicide scene or smelled, which I think is much worse, a homicide scene before. All that aside, the first child homicide I ever had, I'll never forget it. I'll never forget it. I had to pretend I was looking for a witness in the hall. I asked to be excused in the courtroom so I could go outside, quickly find a lady's bathroom, go in a stall and just get it together and get back in there and prosecute that case. Describe to me the reaction of the other troopers and LA law enforcement when they realize they have found Maya, a little baby girl. You know how much people would pay in this country? 50, 60 grand or more

Starting point is 00:38:37 to have a little baby girl like her. And here she is wrapped up in plastic and dead under a bunch of trash. Yeah, it was very surreal. And in fact, I think the lead investigator was he almost felt like he was on the wrong path. He really was hopeful. We all were very optimistic. And we we certainly did not expect to find her there. And we really wanted her to be alive somewhere. That's why we kept this case in the forefront. Every day we was doing updates. I know Mitch Carter can tell you we were out on the scene every day making sure even the smallest bit of information was there.

Starting point is 00:39:19 As soon as we found her little body and what comes along with a decaying body, that crushed everyone's spirit. And it really, you can just feel the tension in the air. And we all huddled. And that completely changed the dynamic of our investigation. We went from a search investigation, hopeful we would find her alive, and then it went to a death investigation. And in a matter of a snap of a finger, it changed, and everyone's mood went completely at 180. Trooper Corey King, I want to thank you on behalf of everyone, and please pass on to your people our deep, deep thanks for finding this baby. The only thing left now is to seek justice. Thank you to our guests. And I want to thank you

Starting point is 00:40:16 for caring about these crime victims, especially baby Maya. Nancy Grace signing off goodbye friend this is an iHeart podcast

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - SHOCK DISCOVERY: MISSING BABY MIYA, 8 MONTHS, FOUND WRAPPED IN PLASTIC IN KENTUCKY HOME

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