Police believe they have located the body of the missing 5-year-old boy Darnell Taylor in Columbus early Friday morning and intend to charge his legal guardian with murder.
Police said Taylor's body was located in a sewer drain in the 1000 block of Marsdale Avenue in Columbus around 1 a.m. after locating Taylor's legal guardian, Pammy Maye, late Thursday in Brooklyn, Ohio. Maye has been charged with murder on top of previous charges of kidnapping and child endangerment.
Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant said Brooklyn Police were called to a business around 9 p.m. Thursday night on Tiedeman Road where a woman was walking suspiciously around the building. The woman turned out to be Maye and police took her into custody.
Bryant said Maye was taken to a hospital in the Cleveland area for medical treatment. Police interviewed Maye and found out where Taylor's body might be located shortly after 1 a.m.
"This is not the outcome that we wanted, but we are going to make sure we do everything we can to bring justice to Darnell," Bryant said.
Bryant did not elaborate on the events that may have led to Taylor's death. She said this is a homicide investigation and police can't share specific information to protect the integrity of the investigation.
Taylor and Maye were reported missing on Wednesday, prompting a statewide AMBER Alert. Police believed Taylor was in danger because of statements Maye made to her husband.
Police later located Maye's vehicle abandoned in Brooklyn, near Cleveland.
Bryant said she is consulting with the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office to add murder to Maye's charges and get her transported back to Franklin County.
Bryant said police have contacted Taylor's biological parents since finding the body but have not been in contact with his foster father since then.
