COLUMBUS – Police say a body believed to be that of a 5-year-old Southeast Side boy whose abduction prompted an Amber Alert was found in a sewage drain early Friday.
Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced at a morning news conference that officers found the body of Darnell Taylor at approximately 1:00 a.m., after the suspect in his abduction, Pammy Maye, was taken into custody in Cleveland and told police where the body could be found.
Maye, 48, was the child’s foster mother and police say she was last seen at her home around 3:00 a.m. Wednesday, about the time her husband called 911 and said Maye had told him the child was no longer alive. The husband said he had searched the home before calling police and did not find the child.
According to court records, Maye held her hand over her husband’s mouth when he tried to make the 911 call, saying she “had a plan.” Maye then abruptly left the home, authorities said, and an Amber Alert for her and the child was issued two hours later.
Maye’s vehicle was found unoccupied around 6:00 a.m. Wednesday in Brooklyn, a Cleveland suburb about 150 miles from Columbus.
She had been charged with kidnapping and child endangerment before the child’s body was found.
Maye has been the boy’s foster mother since May 2023. The child’s biological family was notified that he was missing, authorities said.