Miya Rudd: Parents enter pleas during first court appearance. Here's what to know

Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, Louisville Courier Journal
·2 min read
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Miya Rudd, 8 months, was reported missing from Reynolds Station, Kentucky after police conducted a welfare check on June 6, 2024. Troopers have now arrested five people including the child's grandmother and parents as they have investigated the infant's disappearance.
Miya Rudd, 8 months, was reported missing from Reynolds Station, Kentucky after police conducted a welfare check on June 6, 2024. Troopers have now arrested five people including the child's grandmother and parents as they have investigated the infant's disappearance.

Days after a decomposed infant’s body was found inside their Ohio County home, the parents of 8-month-old Miya Rudd, who officers began searching for earlier this month, appeared in court Monday in connection to the infant’s disappearance.

Tesla Tucker, 29, and Cage Rudd, 30, pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and failure of person to report the death of a person in connection to Miya Rudd’s case, Ohio County Circuit Court ClerkKirtley said.

The preliminary hearing on these charges is scheduled for 9 a.m., Monday.

Multiple people, including Miya’s parents and grandparents, have been arrested as part of the investigation after officers could not locate her while serving a search warrant and conducting a welfare check at her Reynolds Station home, according to a previous news release from the Kentucky State Police.

Ohio County District Court Judge Greg Vincent also found there was probable cause for six other charges that Tucker and Rudd face, including drug-related charges, first-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 or under and engaging in organized crime-criminal syndicate during Monday’s proceedings.

Kirtley said the charge of abandonment of a minor was dismissed Monday.

According to an arrest citation, Miya had not been seen by her family "since the end of April,"  The Courier Journal previously reported.

Ricky J. Smith, 56, Miya’s grandfather, and Brodie C. Payne, 28, of Reynolds Station, were also charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and failure of person to report the death of a person in connection to Miya Rudd’s case, according to a Friday news release from the Kentucky State Police.

Several other people have been arrested on unrelated charges, including Miya's grandparents, Taletha D. Tucker, 50, and David Tucker, 53 and Billie J. Smith, 49, Miya's grandmother. Timothy L. Roach, 37, of Owensboro was taken into custody by troopers while they were entering the Smith residence after they believe he threw "unprescribed Suboxone" under his vehicle.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Miya Rudd: Parents of missing 8-month-old make first court appearance