COLUMBIA — Three people have been arrested and charged in connection to the disappearance of 16-year-old Kayla Huff, Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Luntsford said Wednesday.
Court documents allege that Alayna Mason and another person kidnapped a person in Randolph County on May 6, the same day that Kayla Huff went missing. Christopher Hull and Hunter Ames allegedly aided in the crime, and Ames allegedly supplied a pistol used to shoot the person who went missing, according to court documents.
Probable cause statements filed in each suspect's case redact the name of the person who was kidnapped, but the statements' descriptions of the incident match details Huff's parents have shared since she went missing a week ago. Luntsford has confirmed the connection to KOMU 8 News.
Kayla Huff, a 16-year-old from Moberly, has been found dead.
Hull, 23, and Ames, 19, are charged with first-degree kidnapping and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, according to court documents.
Mason, 20, is charged with first-degree kidnapping and also faces other charges in connection to a stolen Randolph County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle case, according to court documents.
Alayna Mason, Christopher Hull, Hunter Ames
The Randolph County Sheriff's Office said last week that a 17-year-old was also arrested in connection to Huff's disappearance. The Randolph County Juvenile Office has declined to provide any information about the 17-year-old's case.
All three suspects have arraignments scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Randolph County Circuit Court in connection to the kidnapping case, according to court documents.
Investigators determined that Mason and another suspect kidnapped the missing person, according to the probable cause statements.
Ames allegedly told investigators that in the late morning of May 6, the suspects woke him up asking for his pistol. They told him they had someone in the trunk of a white Chevrolet Impala and that they needed Ames' pistol to "take care" of it, according to a probable cause statement.
Ames allegedly allowed them to take his pistol, and they left in a white Chevrolet Impala, according to the probable cause statement.
Video surveillance facing the east side of Ames' residence corroborated the statements provided by Ames, according to the probable cause statement.
Ames stated Mason told him they took the individual to Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area, dragged the victim from the trunk of the vehicle, assaulted the victim and then shot the victim, according to the probable cause statement.
The disappearance of Kayla Huff
Search parties have been searching Rudolf Bennit Conservation Area for days for Huff following information that led investigators to believe she was in the area, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.
Mike Huff, the missing teen's father, called for a pause on the search efforts on Wednesday through a social media post. There are plans to resume the search in new areas associated with new leads on Thursday, according to the post.
In interviews connected to the investigation, Hull allegedly said he had participated in aiding in kidnapping and assisted in discarding evidence or detouring law enforcement, according to a probable cause statement.
An officer also spoke with a witness that stated Mason called them on May 6 asking for help because she and another suspect had kidnapped an individual, taken them to Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area, assaulted them and then shot them, according to a probable cause statement.
The probable cause statement said the witness did not think anything of it at the time, but when the missing persons case was made public, the witness believed what Mason had told him was true.
Luntsford said first-degree kidnapping cases aren't common in Randolph County, but the county has seen them before.
The kidnapping charges carry a range of punishment of five to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, but the charges could be upgraded if Huff is found.
Randolph County Sheriff Andy Boggs was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
This story has been updated with additional details.