Eighteen-month old Lana Leigh Bailey, daughter of murder victim Kaylie Bailey, was tragically found dead on Sunday night when law enforcements discovered the little girl's body, according to Fox News.
After the bodies of Lana's mother Kaylie, 21, Andrew Stout, 30, and Steven White, 31, were discovered on Monday, May 6, with no trace of Lana. Police began a frantic search for the little girl whose mother and associates were victims of a triple homicide in rural Ottawa, Kans. The girl had been missing since May 3, touching the hearts of total strangers over the past week who wished and prayed for her safe recovery.
Grieving family members urged police to find Lana Leigh as soon as possible, but their hope was dashed on Saturday night when authorities discovered a body they believed to be Lana's. Her grandparents told FOX 4 that they received a phone call at about 10 p.m., informing them of the horrifying discovery. Rachel Helms-Bailey, Lana's paternal grandmother who lives in Lebanon, Mo., said "she was a very, very loving child."
"It wasn't long enough," said Kelly Bailey, Lana's second cousin. "Eighteen months seems like a long time, but it wasn't long enough for us. We were cheated out of with her."
The family expressed that they had wished more had been done sooner since Kaylie and Lana first disappeared, and hoped that the fact that Lana had not yet been found was a sign that she was still alive.
"I was going to hold out hope all the way up til they found her either alive or dead," Kelly Bailey said. "Our whole family was very upset, very upset. But we are at peace knowing that she can go and she was not just out there somewhere and we were still looking for her."
Although she is "still mad," Bailey said that she is now at peace, as "Lana was not just out there laying somewhere." Family members on both side say it's better this way as now they can say their proper goodbyes to both mother and daughter.
Visitation and funeral arrangements have now been made for both Kaylie and Lana in Ottawa.
Click here to watch the FOX 4 coverage on the discovery of Lana Leigh Bailey.
