Louisiana Amber Alert: 4-year-old girl found dead, sister safe

A four-year-old Louisiana girl was found dead Thursday, just hours after she and her sister were abducted from their home, where their mother was also found dead.

Erin Brunett and six-year-old Jalie Brunett were arrested sometime before 8 a.m. in Tangipahoa, Louisiana, and an AMBER alert was issued.

According to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office, the girls’ 35-year-old mother, Callie Brunett, was missing for more than 24 hours before she was found “brutally” murdered in her home on North Cooper Road, KSLA reported.

Erin’s body was reportedly found along with the uninjured Jalie more than 100 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi.

Police arrested 36-year-old Daniel Callihan at the scene. USA Today reported that Callihan had an “on-off relationship” with Callie Brunett.

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said he was “accused of committing brutal and heinous acts of violence, including the murder of 35-year-old Callie Brunett of Loranger and her four-year-old daughter Erin.”

“Our condolences go out to everyone affected by this tragic event. These are unspeakable crimes,” said Sheriff Daniel Edwards. “We ask everyone to keep Callie’s family in their prayers.”

Newsweek has reached out to a representative of the Tangipahoa Police Department for comment through their website.

What is an AMBER alert?

An AMBER Alert is an emergency response system that shares information about a child abduction to encourage the public to search for the child.

It was named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped and murdered in Texas in 1996. The alert system uses media broadcasts, highway signs and other communication channels to transmit descriptions of the child, the suspect and any vehicles involved.

By 2023, 1,200 children had been located via the AMBER alarm system. 180 children were rescued as a result of the emergency alarms.

Violence against women and girls

Louisiana’s rate of women murdered by men is the fifth highest in the U.S. According to a report by the Violence Policy Center, Louisiana’s murder rate of women is 85% higher than the national average, at 2.18 murders per 100,000 women.

A study conducted by the Violence Policy Center analyzed data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) over a 25-year period (1996-2020). During that time, 45,817 women were murdered by men in single-victim or single-perpetrator cases.

92% of female victims knew their male killers and 61% of them were murdered by their partner.

Louisiana has a violent crime rate of 639 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. The national average is 399 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, according to a 2023 U.S. News report.

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