Missing Ohio boy found dead
Foster mom charged after body of 5-year-old seen in sewer
Authorities on Friday announced they had recovered the body of Darnell Taylor, a 5-year-old Ohio boy whose recent disappearance triggered a statewide Amber Alert earlier this week.
“We have some very unfortunate news to share,” Columbus Police Chief Elaine
Bryant told reporters during a morning news conference. “This is a tragic development and we certainly hoped for a different outcome.”
Bryant said the remains were found around 1 a.m., abandoned in a sewage drain in Franklin County, not far from where Darnell grew up in Columbus.
The discovery came just hours after officers were dispatched to investigate reports of a woman “walking suspiciously” around a commercial building in a nightgown. They identified her as 48-year-old Pammy Maye, Darnell’s foster mother. She was taken into custody outside of Cleveland shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday night.
Maye was then transferred to a Cleveland hospital for medical treatment, where she told officers the location of Darnell’s body, Bryant told reporters. She was charged with kidnapping and endangerment, and police are working to add murder charges.
Darnell became the subject of an Amber Alert on Wednesday, after his foster father phoned 911 to report his wife’s troubling behavior, according to an affidavit obtained by WCMH-TV. He told authorities in the 3 a.m. call that Maye claimed the boy was dead, and that he couldn’t find him anywhere.
At one point during the call, Maye allegedly attempted to cover her husband’s mouth and told him she had a plan before fleeing the scene.
Officers responded to the residence and scoured the property before searching the homes of Maye’s family and friends for the missing child. When that turned up no sign of Darnell, authorities requested a statewide Amber Alert, which was issued shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday. Roughly an hour later, an unoccupied SUV matching the description of Maye’s vehicle was found in Brooklyn, Ohio — a suburb 10 miles outside of Cleveland.
Police said the biological family was aware Darnell had been found dead. The Mayes are believed to have been his foster parents since May 2023.