Two Redding parents were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing their 2-year-old child and burying her body in the wilderness, authorities said.
Riley Royal, 28, and Amanda Royal, 24, were accused of murder with special allegations and of child abuse resulting in death, according to a news release from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office. They are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
On Jan. 7, Shasta County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call for a wellness check on a 2-year-old in the 20000 block of Sunset Lane in Redding, but were unable to find the child, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies called the parents, who said they were not home. However, deputies later found the couple hiding in the house attempting to avoid law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office alleged.
Deputies then interviewed the parents and learned that the child had died three months prior and been unlawfully buried, authorities alleged. Upon hearing this news, deputies called in detectives from the major crimes unit who took over the investigation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Through further interviews, authorities said, detectives found out that the child’s body had been buried near the Whiskeytown Recreation Area, west of Redding. They also learned that the child had been a victim of physical abuse, the Sheriff’s Office alleged.
A second child was found inside the couple’s home and placed in the custody of the Shasta County Children’s Services, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The following day, on Jan. 8, detectives and coroner investigators dug up the body. The manner of death was ruled as homicide after an autopsy and other medical tests, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Both parents are being held in the Shasta County Jail with no bail, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
