Decomposed body of missing 8-month-old Kentucky girl found in rural home, state police say

OHIO COUNTY, Ky. (WDRB) -- The decomposed body of what's believed to be 8-month-old Miya Rudd was found hidden inside an Ohio County home Friday, Kentucky State Police said.

The baby girl hadn't been seen since April, but investigators weren't notified of her disappearance until just recently. The case was the subject of a week-long search in the rural area southeast of Owensboro.

Kentucky State Police said detectives located an infant's body consistent with Miya Rudd at 1:15 p.m. Central time Friday at the family's home in Ohio County.

"The investigator was fulfilling the search warrant requirements by going piece by piece. We knew we were going to search this house high and low and look through every part of this residence," KSP Trooper Corey King said.

King said the home was very cluttered.

"They located -- under the debris -- the body of, what we believe is Miya Rudd," he said.

Kentucky State Police and other officials search for missing 8-month-old Miya Rudd, last seen in April 2024. The search Friday, June 14 included this area outside a home where KSP said members of the baby's family live. Later that day, KSP said investigators discovered the body inside the home. *(WDRB image from June 14, 2024)*

Just hours after the body was found, King said this sort of discovery is not easy for anyone, including investigators.

"In fact, we were really optimistic, just like the rest of the community," said King. "We were hopeful that maybe someone was holding this baby. But noticing how we had cadaver dogs, how we were sifting through debris in the backyard, we obviously knew, in the back of our mind, that the end result wasn't going to be overly promising."

KSP said Friday's search encompassed multiple locations, including an area of the home's backyard where investigators were looking for any small sign that could be linked to Miya.

The investigation is ongoing, King said, adding that it's now moving into a death investigation case, and the next steps include figuring out the cause of death.

"It's heartbreaking," he said. "I think this, at least, at this point, is somewhat closure, not only to our investigators but the community at large ... For the community as well as our detectives, this is the beginning of starting to heal and having that closure we need. But it's far from being over."

In the small Ohio County community, it's a case that's had several people trying to piece together what happened.

"It's caught everybody off guard, I think," said Angie Johnson, who lives near Ohio County in Hawesville. "They're just devastated because you don't think things like that happen."

Before the body was found, the state police search for baby Miya unraveled an alleged drug ring.

KSP said they were searching for Miya after troopers went to the parents' home on a welfare check and couldn't find her. Miya's parents, Tesla Tucker, 29, and Cage Rudd, 30, have already been arrested on charges including drug possession, child abuse and abandonment of a minor. They were in court this week answering to drug charges and will arraigned next week for the charge of abandoning a minor.

"Without any cooperation from the people that should know where this child is, this (searching) is what we have to do," King said Friday before the body was discovered.

In addition to the baby's parents, police have also arrested Miya's paternal grandparents, Billie J. Smith and Ricky Smith. Billie Smith was arrested on a warrant related to domestic violence, and Ricky Smith is charged with abandonment of a minor and drug charges.

The baby's maternal grandparents, Taletha Tucker and David Tucker, were recently arrested on unrelated charges out of Daviess County.

KSP said another man, Timothy Roach, was seen throwing unprescribed suboxone under a vehicle as troopers were entering a driveway. Roach is facing drug charges.

And another arrest was made Thursday. Brodie Payne is facing numerous drug charges for what KSP said was "his role in the illegal drug operation held at the Rudd residence."

Late Friday night, KSP said they have charged the parents, Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd as well as Miya's paternal grandfather, Ricky Smith and Payne with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and failure to report a death.

KSP said additional charges are likely as the investigation is still ongoing.

Hours before investigators discovered the body, King said, "What launched this investigation was merely the missing 8-month-old and that typically, when we do missing cases, that's where we concentrate and focus on our efforts. But it has broadened so large into a drug trafficking operation, yet with no cooperation from the family, it's different in that way, that this has gone this long without any answers or evidence suggesting whether this baby is dead or alive."

According to KSP, Payne was living in an RV behind the home where the body was found. King said the home where the body was discovered is the primary residence of the baby's parents and he believes Cage Rudd's parents also lived there.

"There's at least four to five people that we can say lived here for some extended period of time. During the time of her death, we don't know just yet because we're not really sure of the timeline," said King.

KSP said the body will be taken by the Ohio County Coroner's Office and taken to the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office in Louisville.

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