Officials have retrieved the vehicle belonging to the individual suspected of perpetrating the homicides of the relatives of a Tennessee baby left abandoned.
In a shocking turn of events, a baby girl was found abandoned in a car seat in a front yard near the Dyer County community of Tigrett, Tennessee. This story has been updated with additional information.
Austin Robert Drummond, a suspect in the murder of four relatives in Tennessee, is believed to be the baby's father. The victims, identified as Cortney Rose (38), her children Adrianna Williams (20) and Braydon Williams (15), and Adrianna’s boyfriend James M Wilson (21), were the baby's parents and grandmother and uncle.
Drummond is suspected of murdering these individuals, and the killings were not random. Authorities believe Drummond knew the victims, and the motive behind the murders remains unclear. Drummond left the baby alive and intentionally dropped her off in a safe place, alerting people nearby to the infant’s presence in an act described by authorities as a "sign of compassion." The baby is currently safe and being cared for.
Drummond, who was previously convicted of aggravated robbery in 2013 and served a 10-year prison sentence, is considered armed and dangerous. He remains at large, and warrants for his arrest have been issued charging him with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
The bodies of the four individuals were found in Tiptonville, a town in northwest Tennessee's Lake County, along Tiptonville's Carrington Road. Nearly a dozen agencies, including the FBI and a US Marshals Service fugitive task force, are working on the case. The US Marshals Service and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) have announced a joint $15,000 reward for any information leading to Drummond's arrest.
The vehicle believed to be driven by Drummond, a white 2016 Audi, was found unoccupied in Jackson, Tennessee, and has been recovered by authorities. The Dyer County Sheriff's Office is investigating the abandonment of the baby, while the TBI is not providing details about the investigation, including how the four were killed, how they were found, whether investigators know of a motive, or who may have left the baby in the yard near Tigrett.
Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box expressed sorrow for the community and commitment to uncovering the truth and ensuring justice is served. The baby girl is approximately 7 months old. CNN's Rebekah Riess, Gene Norman, and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
Our thoughts are with the community and the families affected by this tragic event. If you have any information regarding Drummond's whereabouts, please contact your local authorities or the TBI.
- The incident in Tigrett, Tennessee, where a baby girl was found abandoned, is part of the wider concerns about crime and justice, as the baby's father, Austin Robert Drummond, is a suspect in a series of murders related to war-and-conflicts within a family.
- In the midst of general news coverage, the ongoing investigations into the murders of four relatives and the mysterious abandonment of their newborn child in Tennessee have shed light on the complex intertwining of politics and crime-and-justice, as authorities clarify the motives and continue their manhunt for Drummond.
