A four-year-old Louisiana girl was found dead Thursday only hours after she and her sister were abducted from their home, where their mother was found dead.
Erin Brunett and six-year-old Jalie Brunett were taken sometime before 8 a.m. in Tangipahoa, Louisiana and an AMBER alert was issued.
According to Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office, the girls' mother Callie Brunett, 35, was missing for over 24 hours before being found "brutally" slain in her home on North Cooper Road, as reported by KSLA.
Erin's body was found more than 100 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi, along with Jalie, who was unharmed, reports said.
Police took 36-year-old Daniel Callihan into custody at the scene. USA Today reported that Callihan was in an "on-and-off relationship" with Callie Brunett.
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said he was "accused of committing brutal and heinous acts of violence, including the murders of 35-year-old Loranger resident Callie Brunett and her four-year-old daughter, Erin."
"Our hearts are with all those affected by this tragic event. These are unspeakable crimes," said Sheriff Daniel Edwards. "We ask everyone to keep Callie's family in your prayers."
Newsweek has contacted a representative of the Tangipahoa Police Department via their website for comment.
What is an AMBER Alert?
An AMBER Alert is an emergency response system that shares information about a child abduction in order to mobilize the public into locating the child.
It was named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in Texas in 1996. The alert system uses media broadcasts, highway signs and other communication channels to share descriptions of the child, suspect and any vehicles involved.
As of 2023, 1,200 children were located through the AMBER Alert System. 180 children were rescued as a result of the emergency alerts.
Violence against women and girls
Louisiana's rate of women murdered by men is the fifth highest in the USA. According to a report from the Violence Policy Centre, Louisiana's female homicide rate is 85% higher than the national average, with 2.18 homicides per 100,000 females.
A study conducted by the Violence Policy Center analyzed data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) over a 25-year period (1996-2020). In this time, 45,817 women were murdered by men in single-victim or single-offender incidents.
92% of female victims knew their male killers and 61% of those were murdered by an intimate partner.
Louisiana has a violent crime rate of 639 violent crimes per 100,000 people. The national average is 399 violent crimes per 100,000 people, according to a 2023 report from U.S. News.
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