Toddler, Parents Brutally Murdered In Wanye County, Missouri

WAYNE COUNTY, MO — A man is in custody and police are investigating after a brutal murder that left a 17-month old girl and her parents dead in Wayne County, Mo., about two hours south of St. Louis. Charging documents say Drew D. Atchison stabbed 23-year-old Samara Kitts and 24-year-old Harley Million in their home, then locked their infant daughter Willa in a room and left her overnight. When he returned the next morning, Atchison, 24, tried to cover up the murders, loading the girl and the bodies of her parents into a pickup truck and driving them into a nearby wood.

There, he shot the girl and buried her with her parents under some old blankets and piles of trash, police said.

Sheriff's deputies found the family's bodies Monday, after relatives reported them missing. Atchison was arrested at his home on Cemetery Lane in Williamsville, Mo., and has been charged with first-degree murder. Police say he confessed to the killings, but offered no motive. The case is being handed over the the state attorney general due to the nature of the charges, Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch said.

A family member said in a statement that Kitts and Million, who had been together since high school, were a loving family and amazing parents to Willa.

Three autopsies have been scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Photo by Renee Schiavone/Patch