July 10, 2024 • 40 mins
Miya Rudd is born in October 2023 to parents Tesla Tucker, 29, and Cage Rudd, 30.
Routine tests show that Miya’s umbilical cord has traces of methamphetamine in it--grounds for removal from her parents’ care. By the time Kentucky’s Social Services made arrangements for Miya to be placed with her 3 older siblings, Tucker and Rudd left the hospital with the baby. For the next six months, the family bounces from home to home, avoiding contact from social services.
In late May, a family member realizes they have not seen baby Miya Rudd in nearly a month. The family member contacts law enforcement, reporting they last saw Miya in April. Social services cannot locate the family, so Kentucky State Police Troopers are sent to perform a welfare check. On June 6, Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd are tracked down to an Owensboro Super 8 motel.
Inside Tucker and Rudd’s hotel room, Kentucky State police find large amounts of crystal meth, and what is believed to be fentanyl, but no sign of baby Miya Rudd. Placed under arrest for drug violations, Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd insist that social services removed Miya from their care on May 1st, but social services has no record of a pickup.
The parents suggest Miya may be with her maternal grandparents, who also has custody of her three older siblings, but do not cooperate further with the investigation.
Kentucky State Police head to parents’ Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd’s last known address in nearby Reynold’s Station, hopeful they will locate Miya 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. There is zero indication that Miya Rudd is living in the Deanfield Church Road home.
With all of Miya Rudd’s direct family members ruled out as having the infant in their care, police turn to a physical search near her parents’ home. While a team cleans the home’s interior of drug residue to protect searchers, cadaver dogs comb through the surrounding woods and several debris-filled ditches. The dogs’ behavior leads investigators to believe they have reason to continue searching nearby. When Rudd’s home is finally safe for investigators and K9s to enter,
Kentucky State Police thoroughly search the building, picking through trash and debris. Under a pile of trash, cops make a grim discovery. An infants’ decomposing body is found wrapped in plastic bags and a blanket. The remains are confirmed to be those of Miya Rudd.
JOINING NANCY GRACE TODAY:
- Fran Longwell – Former Deputy State’s Attorney (Calvert County, MD), Former Assistant State’s Attorney (Prince George’s County, MD) specializing in child abuse, sex offenses and homicides
- Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski – Forensic Psychologist, Author: “Darksides;” FB: forensicsandmediapsychologist/TikTok: Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski
- Robin Dreeke – Behavior Expert & Retired FBI Special Agent / Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program; Author: “Sizing People Up: A Veteran FBI Agents Manual for Behavior Prediction;” X: @rdreekeke
- Dr. Michelle Dupre – Forensic Pathologist and former Medical Examiner, Author: “Homicide Investigation Field Guide” & “Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide”, Ret. Police Detective Lexington County Sheriff’s Department
- Mitch Carter - Reporter, WFIE 14 News, Indiana
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
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
(00:26):
reported missing? A? Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories, Thank
you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Kentucky State Police are desperately seeking information on eight month
old Maya Rudd of Reynold 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. Anyone with information is asked
(00:56):
to call State Police at two seven zero two nine
eight three two three five.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Light brown hair and green eyes. What could Maya have become?
What would she be?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
What she grew up?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
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.
(01:42):
And let me tell you something, There's gonna be hell
to pay again. I Nancy Grace and this is Crime Stories.
How does a baby go.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So long without being reported missing?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Reminds me of another baby that goes missing and is
not reported gone.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Does the name Kelly Anthony.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Ring a bell? If not, maybe the name top mom
Casey Anthony will listen, Oh my daughter finally, A babysom say,
I need to find her.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Your daughter admitted that the baby is where.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
You took her months ago, that my daughter's been looking for.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I told you my daughter was missing four months.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
I just found her.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Convey that I can't find my granddaughter.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
She just admitted to me she's been trying to find herself.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
There's something wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I found my daughter's carts.
Speaker 6 (02:42):
To day and it's not.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Okay. What is the three year old's name?
Speaker 7 (02:47):
Kaylee?
Speaker 8 (02:48):
C A y l e E.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Anthony joining me in All Star panel? It makes sense
of what we know right now.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Very often, out to Mitch Carter, or investigated reporter of
w f i E fourteen News Indiana, Mitch, people have
always often asked me, why did you focus on missing
Kelly out of all the stories.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And I can tell you how it happened.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
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 thirty days.
I'm like, well, why am I just hearing about it
right now? And some body on the phone said, well,
she's just been reported missing. Am I stop? We're doing
that right there? Why was she not reported missing? And
(03:34):
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, Miss Carter joining me,
investigative reporter WFIE fourteen News. Mitch, start at the beginning,
when a welfare check was done by l E Law enforcement.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
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 the family members tell them they actually
caught sight of baby Maya, prompting them to a welfare
check in June. Here now on June fifth, authority se.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay, hold on, hold on, you're telling me something I
don't know. Mitch, hold on to some moment, so family members,
somebody calls for a security check on Maya.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Where's Maya? Thank Heaven, or we would not have found Maya.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Somebody gets suspicious and when LA law enforcement go to
the family they say they haven't seen her since April.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Did I get that right?
Speaker 6 (04:34):
So, like I was talking about there, you know, family
reaches out to law enforcement and says they haven't seen
baby Maya since April, prompting this welfare check.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
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 fourteen, Robin behavioral expert for FBI Special agent.
Now listen to this part chief of the FBI Counterintelligence
(05:05):
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 onto my Robin.
Can I tell you I know the precise moment when
(05:29):
my twins left this morning to go to their job.
They have a job this summer. I know the moment
because I hadn't 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,
(05:49):
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 me sing for eight months?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Well, you described what we all do in our lives,
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
going awry by a change in communication. And that's what
happened here. There was a change in communication and change
in contact with the child, and yet no one was
(06:25):
noticed in this baseline. And that's what we really need
to do. 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.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Well, I can't help but just wonder to doctor Jeff Kalshewsky,
renowned forensics psychologist, author of Darksides at Darksides dot Podia
dot com. Doctor Jeff, I can't help but project a
nefarious nature to this. Or is it true that some
(06:57):
parents it's you know, they hand the baby off to
an aunt or a cousin and.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Kind of just leave it there.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And so I naturally attach something to farious 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
(07:26):
just hand it off to someone and.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Not check on it.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Right.
Speaker 8 (07:29):
This really opens the door to a lot of questions.
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, is there
(07:51):
some mal intent in not reporting? Even if something bad
happened to the baby, people at least would take the
baby to the hospital well 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.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
In fact, to Robin Drake 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 childhood where we were very loved,
so other lifestyles were foreign to me. But when you're
(08:32):
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 the While we may not pack
(08:53):
our children off to an infant at just eight months old,
pack the maybe off to go live with someone else
or stay somewhere else, other people do that and in
their world they think it's okay. It's very hard for
me to relate to that.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Absolutely, and you described even you know what this little
child will have missed out on in a very idealic, beautiful,
healthy relationships with growing up. But like you said, everyone
has a different pattern of normal in their lives and
that's for every family to.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Decide what that is.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
But it's still a pattern. And when we have a
deviation from that pattern, if we don't have 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 pattern. I used to see my
grandmother every weekend growing up. That 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
(09:50):
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? Very important? What
question requires specific action?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, in addition to Mitch Carter,
Robin Drike, and doctor Jeff Kalashewski now joining me, renowned prosecutor,
former deputy state's attorney, former assistant states attorney specializing in
child abuse and homicide, Fran Longwill Fran. We're discussing, thank
(10:34):
you for joining us, friend, We're discussing how in my
world for me not to see my infant child for
even a day is unheard of.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
That would not happen period.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
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.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
That's true. I've had many cases where I was kind
of shocked at how the people handled their children, Like
what just one time I said something about the child?
How did the child get out of their crib to
get in a case. And then 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.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So the baby slept on the floor. Okay, I would
find that odd too. And I remember a friend longwell,
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.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
And I went into a woman's time.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
She had to be about nineteen or twenty, and she
had anywhere from eleven to fifteen infant.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Babies lying on the floor, all swaddled tightly so.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
They couldn't really move. There was like a soap opera
or something going on on a 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
(12:20):
you said, I've seen families where children are not allowed
to have any sugar, no cookie, no candy, no muffing, nothing,
and they get in trouble if they have a Snickers
bar or cookies at somebody's house.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Then I've seen families. I just covered a case the.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Other day friend, where a little girl, just absolutely precious,
was fed nothing but baby bottles of mountain dew until
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
(13:06):
in this case fran longwell, not just an alternative lifestyle,
but the baby is missing and nobody reports it.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
How can you not look at that in a nefarious light.
Speaker 7 (13:19):
I think it's very strange. And when a child is
the grandparents or someone should have known that child is missing.
Just like you said in the other case 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
(13:41):
maybe the parents said she was around her she was
with a babysitter who knows.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
The search for infant Maaya 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 fourteen,
(14:08):
Mitch described to me the condition in which she was found.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
Yeah, well, talking with Kentucky State Police. She was found
on Friday at one fifteen pm. They found her inside
wrapped in plastic, in a blanket underneath some debris.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Inside of that help hold on in 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 plasket plastic then a blanket or a blanket
(14:45):
and then plastic?
Speaker 6 (14:46):
I think it's I think she's in a blankets, like
inside the plastic with her, if that makes sense.
Speaker 9 (14:51):
We were told wrapped in and all that.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Okay, would you say that one more time because I
still don't understand.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Was she in so she's like in a blanket then
wrapped in plastic?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Got it?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
You know?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Again?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
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.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Mitch, thank you for that straight out.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Now to doctor Michelle Dupree, joining US recognized forensic pathologist
who shot to fame during the Alexan Murdog double murder trial,
medical examiner, former detective, author of Money, Mischief and Murder
the Murdog Saga the rest of the story, but for
my purposes. She is also the author of Homicide Investigation
(15:46):
Field Guide and Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
She literally wrote the book.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Doctor Dupree, You and I have investigated and covered a
lot of homicide cases, and to me, it's very significant
that the scene was staged.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It may Bee Maya's death.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
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 cover up the
victim with a blanket. I've seen a case where a
(16:29):
mother was shot dead and the killer put a wicker
trash can over her head.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I've seen bodies covered in leaves.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I've seen faces covered just all sorts 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
(17:01):
you have to say.
Speaker 9 (17:02):
Absolutely, Nancy, this is what we often call forensic countermeasures,
meaning that it is an attempt to cover up basically
the crime.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So they knew that this had happened, they knew that it.
Speaker 9 (17:13):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
This is unfathomable.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
And to believe that someone did not recognize that this baby,
this infant who cannot walk cooktok, had not been seen
for so many days and did not report it sooner,
I can't imagine that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
It's unfathomable, Doctor Dupree, I don't know how you would
since the baby wasn't reported missing for so long, This
beautiful baby Maya.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
With her light brown hair and her green eyes and her.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
World before her, because she wasn't reported missing for so long,
how can we tell when she was killed?
Speaker 9 (17:54):
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. We're also, of course going to
take a 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
(18:14):
of that body.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I'm curious, could you explain to everyone in your mind,
doctor 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,
(18:38):
like I don't know, a newspaper, a magazine, a doctor's appointment, schedule,
a prescription to 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.
Speaker 9 (18:57):
Well, Nancy, everything that you 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. Mayo
that hasn't been opened this postmark the newspaper, as you mentioned,
anything like that that can possibly set the time that
is with the body where it is found either beside it,
in the bag or underneath it. Something that is going
(19:19):
to help us not down that time frame.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
So, doctor Michelle duprey, 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, 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 hermatically
(19:44):
sealed in a blanket and plastic. I don't know if
it's just a plastic bag or she's wrapped in plastic tate.
Remember JJ and Tylely called Mom Laurie Valo's children. Remember
that Tilely was basically dirt down. Her body was rendered
down like an animal at a slaughter house. There's nothing
(20:05):
but a bucket of flesh left of Tiley, 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.
(20:27):
So again, how do you look at anybody and I
don't know how she was sealed in the plastic and
determined date of death.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Well, that's exactly what we do, Nancy, is we look
at the environment.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
How warm was it, you.
Speaker 9 (20:42):
Know, what is the moisture content, how was the baby wrap?
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 becoming
mummified or that means leathery, or is it doing something
else and decomposing in a different way. We also look
(21:03):
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. As you know,
(21:25):
time of death is only an estimate, and so that
way we can narrow it down at least to a
certain timeframe.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Joining us now on location is truper Corey King of
the Kentucky State Police Special guests joining us. Truper Corey King,
thank you for being with us. I sometimes wonder how
you keep going when you see cases like this. When
I would prosecute and investigate child murders, some babies as
(21:55):
young as baby Maya, I couldn't sleep for early weeks
after prosecuting a case like that. Tell me about your
involvement in the search for Baby Maya.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
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 what drugs can do to
our families. And we have said it a thousand times
(22:31):
over that that heroin kills the user, methamfetamine 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,
(22:54):
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 in the
state Police. So then we had the questions, where's baby Maya?
(23:16):
And we could 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
(23:38):
at all on her whereabouts.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
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. Are big big, However,
(24:03):
when you are looking for a missing baby just a
few months, so you'd.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Think that somewhere in that addled brain of theirs.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
They would say, Okay, I may have drugs in my home,
but where's my baby?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
That's more important that never dawns on them, does it. No,
it doesn't.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
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.
(24:47):
We certainly agree that yes, based on the constitutions, 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 our mind. One we thought, okay,
someone's holding this child for the family because they knew
social services were coming to get this child. Secondly, they
(25:08):
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 we went, the more grim it looked, and
we actually thought we would never find this child. We
were very optimistic, but I think we were searching several
(25:32):
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,
(25:58):
and sadly, that was that baby's reality for six months.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
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.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Jump in.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Here's the source between Trooper King and Minch Carter. We're
going to get our questions answered. Did you say I
knew she was buried under debris inside of a home?
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Could you describe that from me?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
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.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Addicted to drugs.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
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
(27:07):
bunch of rubble, we all had to go outside the
house and collect ourselves. We were hopeful, we really were.
We're hopeful someone's holding this baby, but unfortunately the reality
was we found her dead. And although we haven't made
a one hundred percent positive identification that comes through DNA,
which we did get, we all know this is baby Maya.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
The trooper Corey King joining us Kentucky State Police. I
need people to understand because the first time I heard this,
I didn't understand it.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
When you say you had to stop the search.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
We just investigated the case of a baby boy, an
infant who died in daycare. Why did he die because
he breathed in fentonyl particles of fentanyl that were in
the air, because the fentanyl itself was moved in his.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I think put under a rug and the baby
breathed in some particles and die.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So if you had you go in you see drug
residue joke pieripheralia everywhere. If you had taken those dogs
in and they had gotten one whiff of let's just
say fentanyl, then die. So you have to back out.
You can't go in, the canines can't go in. Everything
is off. And that's a heck of a predicament. You're
(28:29):
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.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
What can you tell me about that?
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Clearly, findels are very transdermal and depending on the type
of fentnyls, 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 But you're right, breathing in is
ait airborne transdermally, it can absorb and we can overdose
and die ourselves. Not to mention, we have assistance through
(29:06):
the canines which are very sensitive through the pause of
the animal as well as or snout, So it can
be very dangerous in that regard, But we weren't as
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 that baby was involved, it changed
(29:27):
the whole dynamic and the direction of this investigation. All
our hearts was looking It'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. And
one of our detectives said it best is I've never
seen I never had an investigation like this to where
(29:49):
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.
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
(30:09):
the baby's room there was there was a baby bottle,
a pacifier, and narcan sitting next to each other. That
really said it.
Speaker 7 (30:21):
All to me.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Kentucky State Police head to parents, Tesla Tucker and Cage
Rudd's last known address in nearby Rentalds Station, hopeful they
will locate Maya Rudd. Their conditions inside the home are deplorable.
The home is filthy, and troopers uncover more meth and
fentanil cage. Rudd's father, Ricky Smith, is believed to be
(30:54):
operating a drug trafficking scheme out of the home and
is arrested on several drugs and weapons charges. There is
zero indication that Maya Rudd is living in the Deanfield
Church Road home.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
So if she's not there, where is she.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
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 WFE fourteen News Indiana. Mitch,
where was defects in this scenario? Because it's my understanding
mentioned tell me if I'm wrong. Other siblings have been
(31:33):
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.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I'm sure you'll be great parents.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
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
and along with along with KSP, with Drooper King, you know,
is wondering how did this happen? Because you know, any
any sane person you and I talking right now doesn't
make any sense to us, you know. And with that,
I spoke with Kory King about that specifically several times here,
(32:14):
and he told me that Friday before they found him remains,
we talked, We had an interview before, We had a
couple hours before, and he told me that as far
as he knows, they test that a buildical coort and
tested positive for meth. However, it takes a couple of
weeks for those results to get back.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
In that time, they lose track, you know.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
Social Services does of Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd and
this baby and henceforth. You know, months go by and
here we find ourselves.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Now, Okay, Mitch Carter, you are a very well known
in that area, investigating reporter with w FIA. I'm amazed
that you kept a straight face just then when you
said defacts lost them and that quote. Months went by.
(33:00):
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
(33:20):
take the other two children away, but they leave the baby.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Mitch, really you believe that that they couldn't find the parents.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
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 to take a child.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Sorry, I just choked, Yeah, I choked when you said
you're discussing following their protocol.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Mitch Minch Carter. They're lying. They're lying, and they're covering
their rear ends because.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
They let the baby stay in the home and now
the baby's dead.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
A wonderful exposa for you to work on.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
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 kill the baby
(34:27):
and then hid the baby and plastic. But that said,
Defects knew this was a hell and they let the
baby stay there.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (34:36):
I think it's something that the state as a whole
will be looking into. They have made some legislative changes
within our state on accountability and who monitors what, particularly
in this case, what the social services can do and
not do. And I know they have a tough job,
(34:57):
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 gonna test positive for myth and lo
and behold she did. And that's the question is what
happened from October to where we locate the child?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Mits Carter WFIE fourteen.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Isn't it true the family actually told police Defects had
the baby.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Yes, actually that's true.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
You know, Corey King and I spoke and he, like
you mentioned, they're already to you, Nancy.
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Was that the folks who should know the most were
saying the least that are being extremely hard to work with,
which is their right to deplete 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.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Okay, guys, I want to go to Robin Driek joining me,
former chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program and author.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Robin, this is the baby's family.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
They're lying there, are refusing to speak to police to
protect their own drug paraphernalia and drug possession in the
home right there. That's just scream to you regarding red
flags and their behavior.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Nancy.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
The thing that keeps screaming at me in this is
we talk about it, 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 with
testing 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, it's really
(36:41):
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.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
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 saw the first
(37:22):
thing I saw was an APD Atlanta Police Department officer
outside bent over vomiting. 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
(37:42):
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
(38:03):
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 l law enforcement when
they realize.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
They have found Maya, a little baby girl. You know
how much people would pay in this country fifty sixty grand.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Or more to have a little baby girl like her,
and here she is wrapped up in plastic and dead
under a bunch of trash.
Speaker 5 (38:41):
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 certainly did not expect to
find her there, and we really wanted her to be
(39:03):
alive somewhere. That's why we kept this case in the forefront.
Every day we was doing updates. I know Ms Carter
can tell you we were out on the scene every
day making sure even the smallest bit of information was there.
As soon as we found her little body, and what
comes along with a decaying body, that crushed everyone's spirit.
(39:25):
And it really you can just 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 hopefully we would find her alive,
and then it went to a death investigation and in
(39:46):
a matter of a snap of a finger, it changed
and everyone's mood went completely A one eighty Trooper.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Corey King, I want to thank you on behalf of everyone,
and please pass on to your people our deep, deep thing.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Thanks for finding this baby. The only thing left now
is to seek justice.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Thank you to our guests, and I want to thank
you for caring about these crime victims, especially maybe Maya.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Nancy Gray signing off, goodbye friend.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
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
(00:26):
reported missing? A? Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories, Thank
you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Kentucky State Police are desperately seeking information on eight month
old Maya Rudd of Reynold 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. Anyone with information is asked
(00:56):
to call State Police at two seven zero two nine
eight three two three five.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Light brown hair and green eyes. What could Maya have become?
What would she be?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
What she grew up?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
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.
(01:42):
And let me tell you something, There's gonna be hell
to pay again. I Nancy Grace and this is Crime Stories.
How does a baby go.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So long without being reported missing?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Reminds me of another baby that goes missing and is
not reported gone.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Does the name Kelly Anthony.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Ring a bell? If not, maybe the name top mom
Casey Anthony will listen, Oh my daughter finally, A babysom say,
I need to find her.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Your daughter admitted that the baby is where.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
You took her months ago, that my daughter's been looking for.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I told you my daughter was missing four months.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
I just found her.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Convey that I can't find my granddaughter.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
She just admitted to me she's been trying to find herself.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
There's something wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I found my daughter's carts.
Speaker 6 (02:42):
To day and it's not.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Okay. What is the three year old's name?
Speaker 7 (02:47):
Kaylee?
Speaker 8 (02:48):
C A y l e E.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Anthony joining me in All Star panel? It makes sense
of what we know right now.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Very often, out to Mitch Carter, or investigated reporter of
w f i E fourteen News Indiana, Mitch, people have
always often asked me, why did you focus on missing
Kelly out of all the stories.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And I can tell you how it happened.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
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 thirty days.
I'm like, well, why am I just hearing about it
right now? And some body on the phone said, well,
she's just been reported missing. Am I stop? We're doing
that right there? Why was she not reported missing? And
(03:34):
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, Miss Carter joining me,
investigative reporter WFIE fourteen News. Mitch, start at the beginning,
when a welfare check was done by l E Law enforcement.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
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 the family members tell them they actually
caught sight of baby Maya, prompting them to a welfare
check in June. Here now on June fifth, authority se.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay, hold on, hold on, you're telling me something I
don't know. Mitch, hold on to some moment, so family members,
somebody calls for a security check on Maya.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Where's Maya? Thank Heaven, or we would not have found Maya.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Somebody gets suspicious and when LA law enforcement go to
the family they say they haven't seen her since April.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Did I get that right?
Speaker 6 (04:34):
So, like I was talking about there, you know, family
reaches out to law enforcement and says they haven't seen
baby Maya since April, prompting this welfare check.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
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 fourteen, Robin behavioral expert for FBI Special agent.
Now listen to this part chief of the FBI Counterintelligence
(05:05):
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 onto my Robin.
Can I tell you I know the precise moment when
(05:29):
my twins left this morning to go to their job.
They have a job this summer. I know the moment
because I hadn't 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,
(05:49):
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 me sing for eight months?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Well, you described what we all do in our lives,
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
going awry by a change in communication. And that's what
happened here. There was a change in communication and change
in contact with the child, and yet no one was
(06:25):
noticed in this baseline. And that's what we really need
to do. 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.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Well, I can't help but just wonder to doctor Jeff Kalshewsky,
renowned forensics psychologist, author of Darksides at Darksides dot Podia
dot com. Doctor Jeff, I can't help but project a
nefarious nature to this. Or is it true that some
(06:57):
parents it's you know, they hand the baby off to
an aunt or a cousin and.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Kind of just leave it there.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And so I naturally attach something to farious 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
(07:26):
just hand it off to someone and.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Not check on it.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Right.
Speaker 8 (07:29):
This really opens the door to a lot of questions.
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, is there
(07:51):
some mal intent in not reporting? Even if something bad
happened to the baby, people at least would take the
baby to the hospital well 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.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
In fact, to Robin Drake 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 childhood where we were very loved,
so other lifestyles were foreign to me. But when you're
(08:32):
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 the While we may not pack
(08:53):
our children off to an infant at just eight months old,
pack the maybe off to go live with someone else
or stay somewhere else, other people do that and in
their world they think it's okay. It's very hard for
me to relate to that.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Absolutely, and you described even you know what this little
child will have missed out on in a very idealic, beautiful,
healthy relationships with growing up. But like you said, everyone
has a different pattern of normal in their lives and
that's for every family to.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Decide what that is.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
But it's still a pattern. And when we have a
deviation from that pattern, if we don't have 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 pattern. I used to see my
grandmother every weekend growing up. That 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
(09:50):
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? Very important? What
question requires specific action?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, in addition to Mitch Carter,
Robin Drike, and doctor Jeff Kalashewski now joining me, renowned prosecutor,
former deputy state's attorney, former assistant states attorney specializing in
child abuse and homicide, Fran Longwill Fran. We're discussing, thank
(10:34):
you for joining us, friend, We're discussing how in my
world for me not to see my infant child for
even a day is unheard of.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
That would not happen period.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
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.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
That's true. I've had many cases where I was kind
of shocked at how the people handled their children, Like
what just one time I said something about the child?
How did the child get out of their crib to
get in a case. And then 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.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So the baby slept on the floor. Okay, I would
find that odd too. And I remember a friend longwell,
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.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
And I went into a woman's time.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
She had to be about nineteen or twenty, and she
had anywhere from eleven to fifteen infant.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Babies lying on the floor, all swaddled tightly so.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
They couldn't really move. There was like a soap opera
or something going on on a 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
(12:20):
you said, I've seen families where children are not allowed
to have any sugar, no cookie, no candy, no muffing, nothing,
and they get in trouble if they have a Snickers
bar or cookies at somebody's house.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Then I've seen families. I just covered a case the.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Other day friend, where a little girl, just absolutely precious,
was fed nothing but baby bottles of mountain dew until
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
(13:06):
in this case fran longwell, not just an alternative lifestyle,
but the baby is missing and nobody reports it.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
How can you not look at that in a nefarious light.
Speaker 7 (13:19):
I think it's very strange. And when a child is
the grandparents or someone should have known that child is missing.
Just like you said in the other case 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
(13:41):
maybe the parents said she was around her she was
with a babysitter who knows.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
The search for infant Maaya 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 fourteen,
(14:08):
Mitch described to me the condition in which she was found.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
Yeah, well, talking with Kentucky State Police. She was found
on Friday at one fifteen pm. They found her inside
wrapped in plastic, in a blanket underneath some debris.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Inside of that help hold on in 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 plasket plastic then a blanket or a blanket
(14:45):
and then plastic?
Speaker 6 (14:46):
I think it's I think she's in a blankets, like
inside the plastic with her, if that makes sense.
Speaker 9 (14:51):
We were told wrapped in and all that.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Okay, would you say that one more time because I
still don't understand.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Was she in so she's like in a blanket then
wrapped in plastic?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Got it?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
You know?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Again?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
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.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Mitch, thank you for that straight out.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Now to doctor Michelle Dupree, joining US recognized forensic pathologist
who shot to fame during the Alexan Murdog double murder trial,
medical examiner, former detective, author of Money, Mischief and Murder
the Murdog Saga the rest of the story, but for
my purposes. She is also the author of Homicide Investigation
(15:46):
Field Guide and Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
She literally wrote the book.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Doctor Dupree, You and I have investigated and covered a
lot of homicide cases, and to me, it's very significant
that the scene was staged.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It may Bee Maya's death.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
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 cover up the
victim with a blanket. I've seen a case where a
(16:29):
mother was shot dead and the killer put a wicker
trash can over her head.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I've seen bodies covered in leaves.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I've seen faces covered just all sorts 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
(17:01):
you have to say.
Speaker 9 (17:02):
Absolutely, Nancy, this is what we often call forensic countermeasures,
meaning that it is an attempt to cover up basically
the crime.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So they knew that this had happened, they knew that it.
Speaker 9 (17:13):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
This is unfathomable.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
And to believe that someone did not recognize that this baby,
this infant who cannot walk cooktok, had not been seen
for so many days and did not report it sooner,
I can't imagine that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
It's unfathomable, Doctor Dupree, I don't know how you would
since the baby wasn't reported missing for so long, This
beautiful baby Maya.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
With her light brown hair and her green eyes and her.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
World before her, because she wasn't reported missing for so long,
how can we tell when she was killed?
Speaker 9 (17:54):
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. We're also, of course going to
take a 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
(18:14):
of that body.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I'm curious, could you explain to everyone in your mind,
doctor 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,
(18:38):
like I don't know, a newspaper, a magazine, a doctor's appointment, schedule,
a prescription to 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.
Speaker 9 (18:57):
Well, Nancy, everything that you 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. Mayo
that hasn't been opened this postmark the newspaper, as you mentioned,
anything like that that can possibly set the time that
is with the body where it is found either beside it,
in the bag or underneath it. Something that is going
(19:19):
to help us not down that time frame.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
So, doctor Michelle duprey, 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, 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 hermatically
(19:44):
sealed in a blanket and plastic. I don't know if
it's just a plastic bag or she's wrapped in plastic tate.
Remember JJ and Tylely called Mom Laurie Valo's children. Remember
that Tilely was basically dirt down. Her body was rendered
down like an animal at a slaughter house. There's nothing
(20:05):
but a bucket of flesh left of Tiley, 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.
(20:27):
So again, how do you look at anybody and I
don't know how she was sealed in the plastic and
determined date of death.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Well, that's exactly what we do, Nancy, is we look
at the environment.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
How warm was it, you.
Speaker 9 (20:42):
Know, what is the moisture content, how was the baby wrap?
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 becoming
mummified or that means leathery, or is it doing something
else and decomposing in a different way. We also look
(21:03):
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. As you know,
(21:25):
time of death is only an estimate, and so that
way we can narrow it down at least to a
certain timeframe.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Joining us now on location is truper Corey King of
the Kentucky State Police Special guests joining us. Truper Corey King,
thank you for being with us. I sometimes wonder how
you keep going when you see cases like this. When
I would prosecute and investigate child murders, some babies as
(21:55):
young as baby Maya, I couldn't sleep for early weeks
after prosecuting a case like that. Tell me about your
involvement in the search for Baby Maya.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
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 what drugs can do to
our families. And we have said it a thousand times
(22:31):
over that that heroin kills the user, methamfetamine 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,
(22:54):
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 in the
state Police. So then we had the questions, where's baby Maya?
(23:16):
And we could 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
(23:38):
at all on her whereabouts.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
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. Are big big, However,
(24:03):
when you are looking for a missing baby just a
few months, so you'd.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Think that somewhere in that addled brain of theirs.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
They would say, Okay, I may have drugs in my home,
but where's my baby?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
That's more important that never dawns on them, does it. No,
it doesn't.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
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.
(24:47):
We certainly agree that yes, based on the constitutions, 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 our mind. One we thought, okay,
someone's holding this child for the family because they knew
social services were coming to get this child. Secondly, they
(25:08):
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 we went, the more grim it looked, and
we actually thought we would never find this child. We
were very optimistic, but I think we were searching several
(25:32):
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,
(25:58):
and sadly, that was that baby's reality for six months.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
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.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Jump in.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Here's the source between Trooper King and Minch Carter. We're
going to get our questions answered. Did you say I
knew she was buried under debris inside of a home?
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Could you describe that from me?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
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.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Addicted to drugs.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
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
(27:07):
bunch of rubble, we all had to go outside the
house and collect ourselves. We were hopeful, we really were.
We're hopeful someone's holding this baby, but unfortunately the reality
was we found her dead. And although we haven't made
a one hundred percent positive identification that comes through DNA,
which we did get, we all know this is baby Maya.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
The trooper Corey King joining us Kentucky State Police. I
need people to understand because the first time I heard this,
I didn't understand it.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
When you say you had to stop the search.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
We just investigated the case of a baby boy, an
infant who died in daycare. Why did he die because
he breathed in fentonyl particles of fentanyl that were in
the air, because the fentanyl itself was moved in his.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I think put under a rug and the baby
breathed in some particles and die.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So if you had you go in you see drug
residue joke pieripheralia everywhere. If you had taken those dogs
in and they had gotten one whiff of let's just
say fentanyl, then die. So you have to back out.
You can't go in, the canines can't go in. Everything
is off. And that's a heck of a predicament. You're
(28:29):
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.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
What can you tell me about that?
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Clearly, findels are very transdermal and depending on the type
of fentnyls, 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 But you're right, breathing in is
ait airborne transdermally, it can absorb and we can overdose
and die ourselves. Not to mention, we have assistance through
(29:06):
the canines which are very sensitive through the pause of
the animal as well as or snout, So it can
be very dangerous in that regard, But we weren't as
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 that baby was involved, it changed
(29:27):
the whole dynamic and the direction of this investigation. All
our hearts was looking It'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. And
one of our detectives said it best is I've never
seen I never had an investigation like this to where
(29:49):
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.
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
(30:09):
the baby's room there was there was a baby bottle,
a pacifier, and narcan sitting next to each other. That
really said it.
Speaker 7 (30:21):
All to me.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Kentucky State Police head to parents, Tesla Tucker and Cage
Rudd's last known address in nearby Rentalds Station, hopeful they
will locate Maya Rudd. Their conditions inside the home are deplorable.
The home is filthy, and troopers uncover more meth and
fentanil cage. Rudd's father, Ricky Smith, is believed to be
(30:54):
operating a drug trafficking scheme out of the home and
is arrested on several drugs and weapons charges. There is
zero indication that Maya Rudd is living in the Deanfield
Church Road home.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
So if she's not there, where is she.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
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 WFE fourteen News Indiana. Mitch,
where was defects in this scenario? Because it's my understanding
mentioned tell me if I'm wrong. Other siblings have been
(31:33):
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.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I'm sure you'll be great parents.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
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
and along with along with KSP, with Drooper King, you know,
is wondering how did this happen? Because you know, any
any sane person you and I talking right now doesn't
make any sense to us, you know. And with that,
I spoke with Kory King about that specifically several times here,
(32:14):
and he told me that Friday before they found him remains,
we talked, We had an interview before, We had a
couple hours before, and he told me that as far
as he knows, they test that a buildical coort and
tested positive for meth. However, it takes a couple of
weeks for those results to get back.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
In that time, they lose track, you know.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
Social Services does of Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd and
this baby and henceforth. You know, months go by and
here we find ourselves.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Now, Okay, Mitch Carter, you are a very well known
in that area, investigating reporter with w FIA. I'm amazed
that you kept a straight face just then when you
said defacts lost them and that quote. Months went by.
(33:00):
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
(33:20):
take the other two children away, but they leave the baby.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Mitch, really you believe that that they couldn't find the parents.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
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 to take a child.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Sorry, I just choked, Yeah, I choked when you said
you're discussing following their protocol.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Mitch Minch Carter. They're lying. They're lying, and they're covering
their rear ends because.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
They let the baby stay in the home and now
the baby's dead.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
A wonderful exposa for you to work on.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
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 kill the baby
(34:27):
and then hid the baby and plastic. But that said,
Defects knew this was a hell and they let the
baby stay there.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (34:36):
I think it's something that the state as a whole
will be looking into. They have made some legislative changes
within our state on accountability and who monitors what, particularly
in this case, what the social services can do and
not do. And I know they have a tough job,
(34:57):
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 gonna test positive for myth and lo
and behold she did. And that's the question is what
happened from October to where we locate the child?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Mits Carter WFIE fourteen.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Isn't it true the family actually told police Defects had
the baby.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Yes, actually that's true.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
You know, Corey King and I spoke and he, like
you mentioned, they're already to you, Nancy.
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Was that the folks who should know the most were
saying the least that are being extremely hard to work with,
which is their right to deplete 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.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Okay, guys, I want to go to Robin Driek joining me,
former chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program and author.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Robin, this is the baby's family.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
They're lying there, are refusing to speak to police to
protect their own drug paraphernalia and drug possession in the
home right there. That's just scream to you regarding red
flags and their behavior.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Nancy.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
The thing that keeps screaming at me in this is
we talk about it, 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 with
testing 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, it's really
(36:41):
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.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
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 saw the first
(37:22):
thing I saw was an APD Atlanta Police Department officer
outside bent over vomiting. 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
(37:42):
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
(38:03):
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 l law enforcement when
they realize.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
They have found Maya, a little baby girl. You know
how much people would pay in this country fifty sixty grand.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Or more to have a little baby girl like her,
and here she is wrapped up in plastic and dead
under a bunch of trash.
Speaker 5 (38:41):
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 certainly did not expect to
find her there, and we really wanted her to be
(39:03):
alive somewhere. That's why we kept this case in the forefront.
Every day we was doing updates. I know Ms Carter
can tell you we were out on the scene every
day making sure even the smallest bit of information was there.
As soon as we found her little body, and what
comes along with a decaying body, that crushed everyone's spirit.
(39:25):
And it really you can just 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 hopefully we would find her alive,
and then it went to a death investigation and in
(39:46):
a matter of a snap of a finger, it changed
and everyone's mood went completely A one eighty Trooper.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Corey King, I want to thank you on behalf of everyone,
and please pass on to your people our deep, deep thing.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Thanks for finding this baby. The only thing left now
is to seek justice.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Thank you to our guests, and I want to thank
you for caring about these crime victims, especially maybe Maya.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Nancy Gray signing off, goodbye friend.
Host
Nancy Grace
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