Authorities have arrested the grandfather of a 1-year-old boy who was unaccounted for after a Dec. 8 crash that killed two of his family members and critically injured his mother.
It turns out, the boy was last seen in early September, authorities now say.
An emergency missing child alert was issued Tuesday in Alabama for Kahleb Rowan Collins at the request of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, which reported the child missing Monday.
According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency alert, Kahleb is from Winfield, a city in northwest Alabama about 75 miles northwest of Birmingham not far from the Mississippi state line.
Police had been searching for the baby since Dec. 9, one day after the deadly wreck that left his 22-year-old mother, Wendy Bailey of Jasper, hospitalized in critical condition. The boy’s father, Steven Collins, 40, and sister, Raleigh Collins, 2, died as a result of the Dec. 8 crash.
A criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY shows the baby’s grandfather and custodian, 55-year-old John Elton Bailey, is charged with failure to report a missing child and claims the baby was actually last seen in September. The documents also indicate the child potentially could have been harmed or taken from their Alabama home.
An Emergency Missing Child Alert missing child alert was issued on Dec. 17, 2024 for Kahleb Rowan Collins, age, 1, of Winfield, at the request of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. The child disappeared on Sept. 4, 2024 law enforcement reported.
Bailey was booked into jail just before midnight on Dec. 11, online records show.
The sheriff’s office did not provide additional details about the grandfather’s arrest or what they believe may have happened to the child, but a jail spokesperson told USA TODAY that Bailey remained jailed Wednesday in Fayette County on $100,000 bond.
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A single-vehicle crash and a baby left unaccounted for
According to news release issued Monday by the sheriff’s office, just before 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 8, deputies assisted Alabama State Troopers with a single-vehicle crash in Glen Allen in Fayette County.
According to troopers, a 2020 Toyota Tacoma driven by Collins left the roadway at a high rate of speed and struck a tree. Collins and his passenger, Wendy Bailey, were injured and taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Neither wore a seat belt, troopers said.
The couple’s 2-year-old daughter Ryleigh Collins was in the back seat, also unrestrained, and pronounced dead at the scene.
Collins, also of Jasper, died at the hospital the next day.
That same day, the sheriff’s office said, law enforcement was told the couple in the crash “had another child” who was unaccounted for, according the release.
The condition of the surviving victim in the wreck, Kahleb’s mother, was not immediately known Wednesday.
USA TODAY has reached out to the sheriff’s office.
Missing baby’s grandfather John Bailey remains jailed
A jail spokesperson told USA TODAY John Elton Bailey is set to appear in court on Jan. 8.
It was not immediately known whether he had obtained an attorney.
Law enforcement described Kahleb as a white male, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He is 2 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds.
Anyone with information about the case or knows the baby’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the sheriff’s office at 205-932-3205.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alabama boy Kahleb Collins actually went missing months ago: Police
