A frantic midday phone call set Jefferson City authorities racing toward a scene that would soon unravel into a homicide investigation, a missing child alert, and a trail of clues stretching across central Missouri.Police say an adult son dialed 911 shortly after noon, reporting that something unthinkable had happened in his parents’ home and that his youngest sibling could not be found.By the time officers arrived, the gravity of the situation was already apparent. What began as a welfare check quickly escalated into a far more serious criminal case.According to court documents cited by WAFB, at 12:25 pm on Monday, January 12, 2026, the adult son told dispatchers that his father had called him moments earlier and confessed to killing his mother, “I killed your mom, and I left the house.”

When he rushed home, he found her bleeding on the kitchen floor. Emergency responders pronounced the woman dead at the scene. The son also reported that his 18-month-old sibling, who had been home with their mother, was missing. He told police his father was likely driving the family vehicle, a blue 2015 Honda Odyssey.The information quickly became a central focus of the search and guided the next phase of the investigation.With a toddler unaccounted for and a suspect believed to be on the move, authorities issued a statewide AMBER Alert for the child and the Honda Odyssey.Within hours, state officials located the vehicle traveling west on Highway 50 near Sedalia. The driver was taken into custody without incident, police said. Investigators later learned through family members that the child was no longer with him.