“We just need to find him”: Fayette Co. residents concerned as search for missing 1-year-old continues

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Fayette County law enforcement returned to the home of 1-year-old Kahleb Collins Thursday afternoon, spending hours searching the surrounding property, canvassing the area with dogs.

An emergency missing child alert issued Tuesday remains active for Kahleb, but the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says the last confirmed sighting of the child was in September.

John Bailey, Kahleb’s grandfather, remains jailed for failure to report a missing child. His attorney has filed subpoenas for records of all calls of service to the house from the sheriff’s office since January of this year. That attorney has also requested all investigative files and reports for the family related to an investigation initiated in 2024. That investigation is for possible child abuse and/or neglect.

Photos WBRC has obtained show the devastating wreck that killed Kahleb’s father Steven Brad Collins, as well as his two-year-old daughter, and sent her mother to the hospital in critical condition. Steven was going 92 MPH when he crashed, according to a crash report.

A Facebook post from Nov. 6 from Collins claims his son was suffering serious health issues and “not growing,” saying the family had “a long road ahead.”

WBRC spoke with several who live near the home who say the story has shocked them.

“What took everybody so long to realize there’s another child? Somebody knew that there was a second child, so what happened?,” said Fayette Co. resident Angela Trimm. “I have five grandchildren of my own, and if something was to happen to them grandchildren, we would move heaven and earth to get to them. So someone loves this child, we just need to find him.”

The office of District Attorney Andrew Hamlin gave a statement Thursday, sharing that in the last 11 days, they along with law enforcement have made progress in the case and that they expect to release more information in the coming days.

Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.