4-Year-Old Kentucky Girl Missing For Over A Year Found Dead; Mother Charged With Murder

KEY POINTS

The child was last seen by her extended family members in December 2020
Grandparents grew concerned after the girl's mother cut off all contact
21-year-old mother pleaded the fifth when asked where her daughter was

The mother of a four-year-old Kentucky girl, who was not seen for over a year, has been charged with her murder. Cops found Serenity Ann McKinney's body in a wooded area in West Point near the Indiana state border on Friday.

Serenity’s biological mother, 21-year-old Catherine McKinney, and her 26-year-old boyfriend, Dakota Hill were arrested in Kansas on a charge of custodial interference before being extradited to Kentucky. They have since been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse.

The cause of the child's death has not been revealed, reported New York Post.

"It's just absolutely heart-wrenching. It's tough," Kentucky State Police Trooper Scotty Sharp told WDRB, adding that cases like these also take an emotional toll on the officers involved.

"Obviously, it's tragic," Sharp said. "And we hoped it turned out better, but everybody gave their 110%, and one way or another, we wanted to find out what happened to Serenity," he added.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said Serenity Ann McKinney was last seen by her extended family members in December 2020, but they continued speaking to the girl on the phone till June 2021.

Brad Davis, Catherine's father, and her stepmother Aundria Wainscott said she eventually cut off all communication with her extended family. According to Wainscott, it was out of character for Catherine to stop reaching out, which raised concerns for the child's safety.

On Jan. 31, 2022, the grandparents decided to file a missing person's report for Serenity. The warrants were executed in Shelby, Bullitt, and Jefferson County. Three days later, the Attorney General's office said Serenity's parents were refusing to cooperate with authorities.

According to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, McKinney pleaded the fifth when asked where her daughter was.

A huge search was launched for Serenity, though an Amber Alert was not issued. According to Shelby County Sheriff's Deputy Shelby Guffey, this was because Serenity had been missing for a year at that point. "We had no direction of travel, we had no exact placement of where she went missing from," Guffey told WHAS 11.

It was unclear why the couple was in Kansas during the time of their arrest.