The person of interest in the death of 2-year-old Vernon Parish girl allegedly left a note saying he took girl, according to an incident report obtained by our investigative team.
Willow Rain Renteria-Molina, of Hornbeck, was reported missing on May 5. Her body was found the next afternoon in Beauregard Parish. Her death was ruled a homicide and a preliminary autopsy has determined that she died May 4, the day before she was reported missing.
Vernon Parish Sheriff detectives originally recorded the case as a kidnapping, and arrived on the scene at 11 p.m. May 5 to find Willow’s mother, Vanessa Renteria-Molina, crying and hollering, “He took my baby,” according to the incident report.
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Renteria-Molina told detectives that she left for work May 5 and arrived home that night to find a handwritten note from her nanny, Rodney “Donnie” Bailey, telling her that he had taken her from the home. Chief Det. Ray Ortiz said the note was taken as evidence, and detectives are still working to make sense of the timeline.
It’s unclear when Willow was last seen alive by anyone, or when the note was written. Ortiz would not say when Renteria-Molina said she last saw Willow, but said it did not make sense with the timeline.
Renteria-Molina told detectives she was home throughout the week, including Wednesday, the day the girl apparently died, Ortiz said. She went to work Thursday and said she found the note and reported Willow missing Thursday night.
Willow’s grandmother, Glenna Vierick, told detectives that Bailey had borrowed her vehicle to visit his mother in DeRidder. The OnStar Service in the vehicle was used to track the vehicle to a home in Beauregard. Bailey was arrested in Beauregard on drugs and weapons charges, and Willow’s body was found in the same parish, officials have said.
The Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office, which has taken the lead on the investigation, has decline to release any other details about Willow’s death. Ortis said the department is being careful with what they release as the investigation continues.
No arrests have been made in the death.
“We’re going to go where the evidence leads us. Our office has been in constant contact with the district attorney’s office,” Ortiz said. “They know about all of the developments in the case, because we don’t want to make any type of knee-jerk reaction with arrests.”
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Autopsy results for a 2-year-old girl who was found dead last week was released today.
According to the autopsy report, Willow Rain Renteria-Molina’s death has been ruled a homicide and the date of her death has been determined to be Wednesday May 4, 2016.
Willow was reported missing from a home in Vernon Parish on May 5, 2016, but was discovered dead in Beauregard Parish on May 6, 2016.
“We have been working closely with the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office as well as the Calcasieu Parish Coroner’s Office to determine the manner of death as well as the time of the death. This information weighed greatly on the decision of who would lead the investigation and the prosecution.”
Based on this information, “It is indicative that Willow died in Vernon Parish, therefore, we are going to be the lead agency on the investigation” said Craft. “We have been and will continue to work very closely with the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office as well as the Louisiana State Police and the FBI. ”
“Rodney Don Bailey Jr. was the caregiver of the child when she died and is believed to be the primary person of interest in her death, however, we are not ruling out the possibility of someone else being involved”, said Craft. “An arrest has not been made as of yet in the case due to the fact that we are awaiting the results of several forensic tests.
