Search for missing Kentucky child leads to dead body in storage unit, police say

Published 7:21 pm Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Kentucky deputies who were investigating a missing child found a body in a storage unit and have arrested a man and his girlfriend, authorities said.

Jose Gomez-Alvarez, 32, and Cheyanne Porter, 27, were arrested by Kentucky State Police in Berea on Monday after warrants were issued for the two on charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse, Daviess County Sheriff Barry Smith told the Messenger-Inquirer.

The arrests came after deputies found a body in a waste container that was inside a storage unit in Owensboro that belonged to Porter, news outlets reported, citing a statement from the sheriff’s office.

Deputies began investigating on Sept. 30 after an acquaintance reported that a 9-year-old girl hadn’t been seen in a while, and that Porter and Gomez-Alvarez gave differing stories about her location, according to police records.

The arrest warrant says Gomez-Alvarez is Porter’s boyfriend and the father of the child, news outlets reported.

The body was sent to the Medical Examiner’s office to be identified.