Horrendous discovery in pile of ashes months after baby boy vanished
Kahleb Rowan Collins, 1, of Fayette County, was reported missing following a car crash near his Winfield home in December of 2024, which claimed the lives of his father, Steven Collins, 40, and his two-year-old sister, Ryleigh.
However, investigators later learned that Kahleb had not been seen for more than three months prior to the crash, ultimately leading to the arrests of his mother, Wendy Bailey, and his grandfather, John Elton Bailey.
They were both charged with multiple offenses after being indicted by a grand jury last month, including domestic violence, abuse of a corpse, criminally negligent homicide and aggravated child abuse.
On Thursday, the Fayette County Sheriff's Office announced that human remains had been discovered during multiple searches of the family's property, according to a department press release.
' After multiple searches at the property, officers recovered what was believed to be remains of Kahleb Collins located in a burn pile at the family residence,' Sheriff Byron Yerby said in the release.
With the help of an anthropologist, authorities confirmed that some of the items recovered from the burn pile were indeed human remains. The evidence has since been sent to forensic experts for official identification.
'This is a heartbreaking outcome, and our thoughts and prayers are with all those who loved Kahleb,' Yerby added.
'While this discovery brings a measure of closure, it is also a solemn reminder of the responsibility we all share in protecting our children. We are committed to continuing the pursuit of justice in this case.'
The disappearance of the one-year-old toddler only came to light in 2024, several months after his family was involved in a fatal car crash.
The crash claimed two lives, comprising a father who was behind the wheel and his two-year-old daughter - but it was what investigators didn't find at the crash scene that would rip open the family's twisted secret.
On December 8, 2024, along the quiet backroads of Fayette County, Steven 'Brad' Collins was driving when his speeding pickup truck lost control at 92mph and slammed into a tree on Fayette County Road 73.
The impact sent Collins and his fiancée, 22-year-old Wendy 'Pam' Bailey, flying from the vehicle. She was hospitalized in critical condition following the collision.
Their two-year-old daughter, Ryleigh, was killed instantly. Investigators later learned she was not strapped in at the time of the crash.
However, as first responders worked through the devastating scene, they soon realized that they were looking at just the tip of an iceberg of horror.
Investigators eventually exposed allegations of wicked child abuse - and a mother's alleged complicity in it all.
It was an out-of-state relative who asked the question that would ultimately crack the case wide open: 'Where's Kahleb?'
The couple's one-year-old son was nowhere to be found.
As investigators would soon discover, little Kahleb hadn't been seen since September 4 - more than three months before the deadly crash.
On December 17, 2024, an Emergency Missing Child Alert was issued for Kaleb, according to KWTX News.
From that point on, the shocking details began to emerge as multiple agencies searched for his whereabouts.
According to documents from a criminal complaint obtained by AL.com, Bailey made a series of chilling admissions from her hospital bed at UAB Hospital in Birmingham.
The documents state that Bailey 'failed to report a missing child by delaying to make or failing to cause to be made the report with willful and reckless disregard for the safety of the child and the child suffered serious bodily harm or death, to with: physical injuries to the child and the child was removed from the home and taken to an unknown location and no report was made by any resident of the home'.
The young mother revealed that her fiancé had sent her photographs of their baby boy - harrowing images showing the infant hanging from a rope in a loft, with his tiny body bloodied and bruised.
'He won't move,' Collins texted after sending the horrifying images, followed by 'I'm so sorry.'
Shortly after, Collins messaged again: 'He's moving'.
Bailey shockingly replied: 'He just looks wore out and tired and hurt hopefully that's all.'
'Wendy Bailey failed to intervene or notify law enforcement after she was made aware of the extreme circumstances and assault that had occurred to Kahleb Collins,' the documents stated.
However, the most disturbing revelation was yet to come.
Bailey confessed to investigators that after Kahleb's death, his small body was placed in a bag and stored in an outdoor shed 'for a brief period' before being moved to an unknown location, according to the documents.
Photographs show the little boy bruised and face up lying on the ground as well as 'hanging from a loft with a rope with blood present on his body'.
Just weeks before the crash, Collins posted a cryptic message on Facebook about his son's health.
'Our son s not doing well,' he wrote, as reported by AL News.
'He is not growing, has major back issues,' Collins added. 'His organs are growing but not his body. He has to have surgery at some point. Keep him in your prayers. Been rough and just seems going to be a long rough road ahead of us.'
Bailey was arrested on December 1. She was released from the hospital and booked into the Fayette County Jail on a $100,000 bail.
Bailey's father, 55-year-old John Elton Bailey, who lived with the family, was also charged with failure to report a missing child.
'As a result of the ongoing investigation, Wendy Pamela Bailey and John Elton Bailey have been arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including domestic violence, abuse of a corpse, criminally negligent homicide and aggravated child abuse,' the Fayette County Sheriff's Office said.
'Nothing further is available as the investigation remains ongoing.'
The Fayette County Sheriff's Office has urged anyone with information related to the case to contact them at 205-932-3205.
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