Authorities investigating the kidnapping and murder of a 4-year-old Louisiana girl whose body was found in Mississippi say they have found evidence that human trafficking may have occurred in the area where the girl was found.
Investigators who arrested Daniel Callihan, 36, and Victoria Cox, 32, for the murder of Erin Burnett said evidence included a cage for small animals.
Callihan was in a relationship with Erin’s mother, 35-year-old Callie Barnett. Barnett was found murdered Thursday in her home in Loranger, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of the Louisiana state capital of Baton Rouge. Barnett had not been heard from since Tuesday and had been reported missing, according to the local sheriff’s office.
Authorities later issued an Amber Child Abduction Alert for Barnett’s daughter, Erin, and her 6-year-old sister.
Erin Burnett’s body was later found in a wooded area south of Jackson, Mississippi. Her sister was found nearby, injured but alive, and taken to a hospital in Jackson, authorities said.
By Friday, both Callihan and Cox, who investigators say may be Callihan’s girlfriend, had been arrested on murder and sexual assault charges that could carry the death penalty if convicted as charged.
“I did it,” Callihan told reporters Friday as he was led into the police station by Jackson police. “I did it,” he said of Erin Burnett’s murder.
He also claimed he had a history of mental illness and was taking antidepressants, and said: “Considering what I’ve done, lethal injection is the easiest thing for me to do.”
The case is a reminder that Louisiana has long had one of the highest murder rates for women among U.S. states. 2021 Report They found that the rate at which men murder women in Louisiana was 85% higher than the national average.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
