Authorities arrested the boyfriend of a Louisiana mom "brutally murdered" after one of her two kids was found dead in the Mississippi woods Thursday, putting a tragic end to an AMBER Alert issued earlier in the day.
Four-year-old Erin Brunett's body was dumped in Jackson, Mississippi, in a wooded area near the stolen getaway car driven by her alleged kidnapper, Daniel Callihan, authorities said, according to WVUE-TV. Erin's 6-year-old sister, Jalie, was found alive in the vehicle.
"You don't want to see that as a police chief; you don't want to see that as a father," said Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade. "A coward took this child from her family."
Callihan was arrested by U.S. Marshals responding to a report of a suspicious person following a brief police chase, according to WDSU-TV.
He and the girls' mother, Callie Brunett, 35, were said to be romantically involved up until he allegedly and "brutally murdered" in her Loranger, Louisiana, mobile home earlier this week.
Brunett's father found her body Thursday morning.
It's unclear how she or Erin were killed.
Jalie was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
