Missouri town reeling after missing girl found dead. ‘You became all our daughters’
After a northern Missouri community prayed and searched for more than a week hoping to find a missing 16-year-old girl, authorities said Thursday that she’d been found dead.
Randolph County Sheriff Andy Boggs shared the news about Kayla Huff on social media in the early morning hours Thursday. Kayla was last seen May 6 in Moberly, about 130 miles northeast of Kansas City.
“This is not the outcome anyone hoped or prayed for, and our hearts go out to Kayla’s family, friends, classmates, and all those affected by this tragic loss,” the sheriff’s news release posted on Facebook said. “The Randolph County community has come together over the course of this investigation, and this news weighs heavily on all involved.”
In a brief phone call with The Star Thursday, Boggs said that a civilian from the local area found the teen’s body Wednesday evening in a wooded area in the Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area. Authorities and volunteers had been searching around there for the past six days, he said.
“It was emotional,” Boggs said, of finding the teen. “It was a sad night.”
The news about Kayla’s death comes a day after prosecutors charged three people with first-degree kidnapping. Though the probable cause statements describing the charges filed on each of them didn’t name Kayla — references to the victim were redacted — the details of the case matched her disappearance.
A 17-year-old male also was arrested late last week in connection to her disappearance, authorities said.
Those charged in adult court with first-degree kidnapping are: Christopher Alan Hull, 23; Hunter Tyne Ames, 19; and Alayna Leann Mason, 20. All are from Moberly, according to court documents.
Hull and Ames also face charges of tampering with physical evidence for discarding an expandable baton allegedly used to assault the Moberly teen, records indicate.
The sheriff said in his post Thursday morning that “multiple individuals have been charged in connection with this case.” He also said that “additional investigative steps are continuing.”
‘Rest in peace, Kayla’
Since Kayla’s parents first reported her missing on May 6, members of the community and those close to the teen have joined law enforcement in searching for her.
The teen left behind her “electronics or id -debit card” according to a post her mom wrote on social media. And her car, her father said, was abandoned on Rollins street in front of Assembly of God church in Moberly.
Volunteers from across Missouri traveled to the town and Randolph County to help search for the teen, the sheriff said. Others donated food and water for those helping.
By 10:30 a.m. Thursday, several hundred people had commented on the sheriff’s Facebook post about Kayla’s body being found.
“Rest in peace, Kayla,” one woman wrote. “You became all our daughters, sisters, loved ones this week. Sending nothing but love to this family.”
Added another: “This breaks my heart into a million pieces. Not the outcome we all have prayed for but she’s been found and now the slow process of healing can begin ... ”
What records detail happened
The three probable cause affidavits outlining charges against Hunter Ames, Christopher Hull and Alayna Mason shed light on what law enforcement has pieced together in the days since Kayla was last seen.
According to court records, investigators learned during their investigation that Mason and another individual (that name was redacted) kidnapped Kayla. And that they had taken Kayla in the trunk of a car to “Rudolf Bennitt Conservation area and assaulted her with a blunt object, and shot her,” according to the probable cause statement related to the kidnapping charge against Mason.
Ames told investigators, according to court records, that he was awakened the morning of May 6. The name of the person who woke him up was redacted.
Another person was also at the home, records show, and Ames said he was told that someone was in the trunk of a white Chevrolet Impala and that his pistol was needed to “take care” of it, the document said. Ames told investigators that he allowed the two people who came to his residence to take his pistol.
Later in the day, one of the people there that morning returned, Ames told investigators.
“Ames stated (name redacted) told him that they took the individual to Rudolf Bennitt, drug her from the trunk of the vehicle, assaulted them and then shot and killed them,” the probable cause statement said. “Ames stated he confirmed (name redacted) was talking about shooting (name redacted).”
Hull helped corroborate information that others told investigators, records show. And Hull “further advised on May 8, 2026, he ... and others discarded an expandable baton, which he knew was used to assault (name redacted).”
After law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence Hull said, records show, that someone located the expandable baton still there.
“At this time, no one had advised law enforcement a weapon like this was used in the commission of the crime,” court records said.
In an interview with investigators, “Ames stated he wanted to discard the baton, so he had (name redacted) drive him to a rural area to do so.
Records indicate that Hunter and Ames “showed Law Enforcement where the baton was left.”
The sheriff said in a news release Thursday that Kayla’s disappearance and death had “deeply impacted our community and the men and women involved in this investigation.”
“While we are thankful for the tireless efforts of law enforcement, emergency responders, volunteers, and community members who assisted in this search,” Boggs said, “we mourn alongside this family as they face an unimaginable loss.”
A father’s words
Beginning the day his daughter was last seen, Mike Huff turned to social media to update family, friends and residents across the region.
He shared heartbreak, plans for searches and thankfulness for the support and kindness of others.
Thousands have reacted to his Facebook posts and hundreds have shared them.
On May 6, the day Kayla was reported missing, Huff wrote that he got a call at work “that no parent would want to get.” He said Kayla was missing
“We have followed many leads and still we aren’t any closer to answers as to where she is or who she’s with,” Huff wrote after 11:30 that night. “I am exhausted and mentally drained. I have no idea what to do. I just want my daughter home safe and sound. How do I rest when all I can think about is every bad scenario under the sun and wondering if my daughter is OK.
“... Kayla, if you can see this and you’re able, please come home.”
Two days later, at around 9 p.m. on May 8, Huff posted to thank those who helped search for his daughter that day at Rudolph Bennett Conservation Area.
“Words can’t describe how touching it is to see how many people were willing to come and assist us in looking for her,” he wrote. “We plan to go back out tomorrow and expand the search area to cover more areas on the map grid. Most of the places are farther off the roads and trails, but we want to make sure we aren’t missing anything.
On March 9, Huff shared his gratitude again:
“I am overwhelmed by the love shown to us by friends, family, and in some cases, total strangers,” he wrote on Facebook. “So much of the time we see all the negative things going on in this world, but times like this are proof that there is so much good still out there in this world.
“Our communities act as one in times of crisis or trouble and that’s my reminder that God is still in control.”
And on May 12, he announced on his Facebook page that the family was offering a reward of “over $1000 for information that directly leads to us locating our daughter, Kayla Huff.”
The family planned to search again for the teen on Thursday.
But her body was found, authorities said, around 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
