Two people have been arrested in connection to the death of 4-year-old Kentucky girl Chloe Darnell, the Whitley County Sheriff Department announced in a Facebook post Friday.
Brittany Slaughter, 24, and Adam Hayes, 34, are each charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.
The body found
Kentucky law enforcement says a body they believe to be that of the 4-year-old ‘has been recovered and sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Frankfort for an autopsy and positive identification,’ according to the post.
Brittany Slaughter, 24, and Adam Hayes, 34, are each charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, the sheriff’s department says, adding that additional charges may be filed in what remains ‘an active investigation.’
Slaughter had custody of Chloe, who had not been seen alive since late September, according to the sheriff’s department preliminary investigation.
Both Slaughter and Chloe had previously been reported missing from the Canada Town Community of Whitley County, the sheriff’s department said.
The arrest
On Thursday, investigators seized a red 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer, which the sheriff’s department believes Slaughter had been using prior to Chloe’s disappearance.
The following day, authorities announced the arrests of both Slaughter and Hayes.
The GoFundMe campaign created by Tricia Hess, who identified herself as a relative of the family, described Chloe as ‘a bright happy child,’ who was living with her cousin, Brittany Slaughter.
Hess identified Hayes as Slaughter’s boyfriend.
‘Family and friends were becoming suspicious because they were unable to see or talk with Chloe the past month,’ Hess wrote.
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She said the sheriff’s department conducted a wellness check Thursday and that Slaughter was located at 9 p.m. that night.
‘During the night they searched the area around the house and surrounded woods and were able to locate Chloe’s body,’ Hess said in the post.
Hess said the money would be used to give the 4-year-old ‘a proper funeral and burial’ and that remaining funds would be used to bring Chloe’s seven siblings into town for her funeral.
