A man from Louisiana has confessed to abducting two young girls – one of whom police say he murdered – after their mother was discovered dead in her home last year. Callie Brunett, 35, was found killed in her Loranger residence in June 2024, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office at the time. Her four-year-old daughter Erin and six-year-old unnamed daughter vanished from the property.
Daniel Wayne Callihan, 37, later admitted to kidnapping resulting in death and transporting a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced. The office claims Callihan stabbed Brunett more than 50 times, killing her, before snatching her daughters. According to the release, he confessed to stabbing Brunett.
He then drove the children over 130 miles to Mississippi to his partner Victoria Cox, 34, who has been charged as an accessory but pleaded guilty.
He also faced three counts of murder amongst several other charges including kidnapping, burglary and robbery, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.
However, the status of those remaining charges remains unclear, and it is not immediately known if he has entered pleas to them.
The Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office previously stated Brunett and Callihan had dated “off and on”.
Authorities subsequently discovered Erin’s remains in a dirt pit in Mississippi after launching a manhunt for the girls. Her injured six-year-old sister was rescued from the same location, Jackson Police said at the time.
According to a summary of facts signed by Callihan, he and Cox kept the young girl as a “sex slave”, The Sun reports.
Callihan was arrested for “committing brutal and heinous acts of violence”. Following his arrest, Callihan was captured on video confessing to a WDSU reporter that he “unfortunately” killed four-year-old Erin.
As part of the plea deal he negotiated, he has been spared the death penalty, according to the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana.
Callihan is expected to receive a life sentence for the charge of kidnapping resulting in death and a minimum of 10 years for transporting a minor across state lines with the intention of engaging in criminal sexual activity.
