Police say the case began with a missing-child report late Friday and remains under active investigation.
PIEDMONT, Ala. — A 10-year-old girl was found dead late Friday inside a home in this Calhoun County city after police answered a missing-child call, and another juvenile was taken into custody and charged with murder, authorities said.
The case has shaken a small east Alabama community because the victim was a child known at a local elementary school and the suspect is also a minor. By Monday, investigators had confirmed only a narrow set of facts. Police identified the case as a homicide, the coroner identified the girl as Katheryn Aliceanna Bigbee, and officers said another juvenile had been charged with murder. Many of the most important details, including how the girl died, where in the home she was found and the accused juvenile’s relationship to her, were still not public.
The public timeline starts at 10:51 p.m. Friday, April 17, when Piedmont police were sent to a residence on a report of a missing child. Officers arrived and found Katheryn dead inside the home, according to statements later released by authorities and local news outlets. Police Chief Nathan Johnson said the call first came in as a missing-person report after family members heard something and could not find one of the children in the house. In later remarks carried by local television, Johnson said officers discovered a girl with “extensive injury” who appeared to be dead. By Saturday, police said another juvenile had been taken into custody and charged with murder. The speed of that arrest made clear that investigators believed they had enough evidence to file a charge quickly, but it did not answer the larger questions the town has been asking since the weekend began.
Officials have been careful and limited in what they have released. Police have not named the accused juvenile, have not given an age, and have not described whether the child was a relative, a friend or another person who was inside the home. Local reports said officers responded in the Asberry church area of Piedmont, but the exact address has not been made public. The Calhoun County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Katheryn Bigbee, 10, yet did not release a cause of death by Monday. Police also have not said how long she had been missing before the call, whether investigators believe there was an argument or assault before the fatal injuries, or what evidence led detectives to file a murder charge so quickly. In practical terms, that means the outline of the case is known, but the central facts that would explain what happened inside the home are still being withheld or have not yet been determined for release.
The death quickly spread beyond police statements and into the daily life of the city. Katheryn was a student at Piedmont Elementary School, where administrators described her as a child who brought light, kindness and energy into the building. In the school’s public remembrance, staff called her a student with a “joyful, spunky personality” and said she was an enthusiastic reader whose presence will be missed by classmates and teachers. School officials also said grief counselors would be made available for students and staff as classes continued after the weekend. Those details gave shape to a victim who might otherwise be known only through a charge sheet and a coroner’s identification. She was not just the child named in a homicide investigation. She was a student with routines, classmates, teachers and a place in a close school community that now must absorb a loss few towns are prepared to face.
The wider community reaction has followed the same pattern of grief mixed with uncertainty. Residents interviewed by local stations described Piedmont as a quiet place where people know one another and where news travels fast. Avery Gowens, a resident who did not know the family personally, called the moment “very traumatic” for the family and the town. Jerry Stewart, president of the Piedmont Ministerial Association, said the area had already been carrying other recent losses before this one. His point was less about the investigation than the emotional weight now landing on churches, schools and neighbors at the same time. In a city like Piedmont, where family, school and church networks often overlap, a child’s death does not stay contained inside an official case file. It reaches classrooms, Sunday services, ball fields and front porches, especially when so much of the official story remains incomplete.
For now, the legal picture is almost as limited as the factual one. Police have said only that another juvenile has been charged with murder. They have not announced when that charge was formally filed, whether the accused has already appeared before a judge, or when the next court step might occur. Because the suspect is a minor, authorities have released no identifying details. Police also have not said whether additional charges are possible, whether any adult faces scrutiny, or whether detectives expect forensic testing or autopsy findings to change the direction of the case. That leaves the next public milestones outside public view for the moment. The next meaningful update could come from investigators, the coroner or court action, but as of Monday evening no detailed briefing had been announced. Until then, the official record remains stark: a missing-child call, a 10-year-old girl found dead inside a home, and another child accused of murder.
That mix of certainty and silence has defined the story from the start. People in Piedmont know who was lost. They know another juvenile has been charged. They know police arrived late Friday after a call for help and left with a homicide investigation that was still active days later. What they do not know is why Katheryn died, what happened in the home in the minutes before officers arrived, or when authorities will be ready to explain more in public. Johnson, in an early statement, called it a “heartbreaking situation” for everyone involved and for the community. That description has held up as the town moved through the weekend and into a new week. The known facts are few, but they are heavy: a child is dead, another child is accused, and a small Alabama city is waiting for the next verified answer.
As of Monday, police still described the case as active and ongoing. The next public milestone is likely to be any update that explains the cause of death, fills in the timeline inside the home and outlines the next court step in the juvenile case.
Author note: Last updated April 20, 2026.