Fatal Car Crash Reveals Family's 1-Year-Old Baby Has Been Missing for Months

News By TooFab Staff |
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

Authorities are still searching for Kahleb Rowan Collins, whose disappearance was only discovered after his father and sister were killed in a car crash which also seriously injured the child's mother.

A puzzling case involving a fatal car crash, missing child, and the arrest of the kid's grandfather is unfolding in Alabama.

It all began on December 8, when a car carrying the missing child's father Steven Collins, the boy's mother Wendy Bailey, and 2-year-old sister RyLeigh crashed into a tree in Fayette County. Collins and his daughter were killed, while Bailey was critically injured.

Per investigators, via an incident report seen by WBRC, the father was "driving aggressively at an extreme rate of speed," 92 MPH, when he lost control of the vehicle, spun out and careened into the tree. Troopers noted the road was wet, while neither parent was wearing a seatbelt and the child reportedly wasn't in a car seat; they also said the truck was being "operated aggressively" before the crash.

Collins was ejected from the truck and pronounced dead at the hospital. His daughter sustained fatal injuries during the crash, while Bailey was also "slightly ejected" and airlifted to the hospital for treatment.

The Fayette County Sheriff's Office said it learned on December 9 that the couple in the crash "had another child," 1-year-old Kahleb Rowan Collins, who wasn't in the car with the rest of them. He was reported missing that day and a search began.

On Monday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced that Kahleb was last seen on September 4 -- meaning he's actually been missing for more than three months. An Emergency Missing Child Alert has since been issued for the boy, who remains unaccounted for.

On December 11, Kahleb's grandfather John Elton Bailey -- who was reportedly living with his daughter's family -- was arrested and charged with failing to report a missing child. He's still behind bars at the Fayette County Jail.

Neighbors also told the local ABC affiliate that Steven told them their son "had gone to live with relatives because he was sick." Family members, meanwhile, said they were told the boy had health issues.

And then there's this: On November 6, after authorities say the child was last seen, Steven shared a post about his son to Facebook.

"Our son is not doing well. He is not growing and has major back issues," he wrote at the time. "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 tough road ahead of us."