LORANGER, La. — UPDATE: The body of 3-year-old Erin Brunett was recovered and 6-year-old Jalie Brunett was found 'alive and well,' according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office on Thursday afternoon The suspect was arrested in Jackson, Miss.
Editor's Note: There is some confusion between agencies about whether Erin Brunett was 3 or 4 years old.
Initially, The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office reported that Erin Brunett was four-years-old. The department later revised that report.
The body of 3-year-old Erin Brunett was recovered and 6-year-old Jalie Brunett was found 'alive and well,' according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office.
The suspect, Daniel Callihan, was arrested in Jackson, Miss.
"The suspect has been arrested in Jackson, Miss., by the [U.S.] Marshal's Service," said TPSO Chief Jimmy Travis after taking undercover officers captured him while attempting to flee. "He directed them back to the car where the 6-year-old was found alive and well and then he showed officers a wooded area not far from the car where the body of the 3-year-old girl was."
Travis called the incident is a senseless tragedy.
"We started looking and information we obtained took us to McComb, Miss., and then from McComb, Miss., to Jackson, Miss.," he stated.
He also said the suspect is a local resident from Louisiana and believes he and the mother dated off and on.
The Louisiana State Police issued an 'Amber Alert' for two missing children who were last seen at 56044 N. Cooper Road in Loranger earlier Thursday.
The children were believed to have been abducted before 8 a.m. Thursday.
A 35-year-old Loranger woman who had last been in contact with her family Tuesday night was found dead inside of her home, her car was gone and her two young children were missing, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said early Thursday.
Travis said that Callie Brunett had been reported missing after her family hadn't been in contact with her since Tuesday night. Travis said because her car wasn't at the home, the family had no reason to believe that she was there, but at some point Brunett's father went inside to check on her and found her dead in the bedroom.
The manner of her death had not been determined, but Travis said that detectives believe it was a homicide. In the 'Amber Alert' issued shortly afterward, the LSP said troopers are looking for a white man for questioning for what they called a domestic violence incident, which allegedly occurred at the time of the abduction and homicide.
FBI and law enforcement from other parishes were involved in a foot search of the nearby area. Travis said there was no indication that the children were nearby but that they were covering all the bases.
Detectives say Callie’s car is described as a black 2012 Chrysler 200 with Louisiana license plate 859GML.
Sheriff Daniel Edwards asks anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the children or vehicle to contact Lt. Jacob Schwebel at 985-902-2037, or Crime Stoppers of Tangipahoa if you wish to remain anonymous.
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