Child remains found in duffel bag; parents and grandfather of baby Miya in court

HARTFORD, Ky. (WEHT) — The Ohio County Coroner is still working to identify the child remains found in a duffle bag at a Reynolds Station home on Friday. It’s believed to be the body of eight-month-old Miya Rudd. Authorities say they gathered DNA from the baby’s parents, Tesla Tucker and Cage Rudd, to compare to the remains.

Tucker, Rudd and baby Miya’s grandfather are facing several charges, including drug trafficking and abuse of a corpse.

Ohio county district court has ruled that they have enough probable cause to send Tucker, Rudd, and Smith before a grand jury for the drug-related charges.\

Officials say several rooms inside of the home contained drug residue and large amounts of trash.

“…specifically the bag of meth was in a room with a basinet, a child’s bed , and it was literally laying on the floor in plain view next to narcan,” says Kentucky State Police Detective Dalton Mellot.

Detective Mellot says more evidence was discovered in a bunker behind the house. “…large scales, a gigantic box of syringes that were used, needles. We found some sort of chemistry equipment and it had white residue,” says Detective Mellot.

Tucker, the mother of Miya Rudd, was brought to tears as the hearing unfolded.

Attorney at Law Zanda Myers says there’s not enough evidence to prove they were selling drugs. Myers is working as the defense attorney for Tucker.

“Your honor I would submit to the court that residue does not rise to the level of trafficking in the controlled substance. Furthermore, part of that is enhanced trafficking you can’t just make the assumption,” says Myers.

According to court documents, on June 14, KSP say they discovered a child’s remains inside of a black adidas duffle bag.

A preliminary hearing has been set for June 24 at 9 a.m. The preliminary hearing is in regard to the trio’s latest charges that were added after the discovery of those remains. Those charges include abuse of a corpse, failure to report a dead person and tampering with evidence.

The judge argued drugs in the home, paired with the living conditions was enough to investigate abuse charges.

Brodie Payne, who was also living on the property during the time when baby Miya was living in the household, will face the same charges in that hearing.

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