DYER COUNTY, Tenn. (Court TV) — Investigators across multiple counties in Tennessee have identified a suspect after an infant was abandoned in a stranger’s yard and members of the child’s family were found dead 45 minutes away.
A 7-month-old infant was left in a car seat on a stranger’s lawn in Dyer County, Tenn. (Dyer County Sheriff’s Office via Scripps News Nashville)
Deputies were called to a home near Tigrett on Tuesday afternoon when a 911 caller reported seeing a vehicle leave a child in a car seat on a lawn. The vehicle, described as either a dark-colored minivan or a white mid-size SUV, left the 7-month-old girl in her car seat “at a random individual’s front yard,” deputies said. The area had construction activity going on, and a male who was driving the car and allegedly abandoned the child is believed to have honked his horn and pointed at the infant before leaving.
While the name of the infant has not been released, officers shared a photo of the little girl on social media, taken of her “in the arms of a loving paramedic.” Temperatures in Dyer County reached 97 degrees on July 29 with a heat index of 113 degrees.
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Hours after asking for information about the infant’s family, investigators found the bodies of four people approximately 45 minutes away in Tiptonville. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified them as James Wilson, 21, Adrianna Williams, 20, Cortney Rose, 38, and Braydon Williams, 15. District Attorney Danny Goodman Jr. told Court TV that Wilson and Adrianna were the infant’s parents; Rose and Braydon were Adrianna’s mother and brother.
Austin Drummond is charged with four counts of murder. (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)
Two vehicles belonging to the victims were found 40 miles away from where the infant was abandoned, after one of the victims’ relatives helped locate them. The bodies were found in a heavily wooded area and were not inside the vehicles, Goodman said.
On Thursday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Austin Drummond, 28, was wanted on several charges, including four counts of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. Drummond has not been arrested and police warn he should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 731-415-7962 or 1-800-TBI-FIND.
