A Kentucky couple who were arrested in 2022 for hiding a child’s body in a storage unit pleaded guilty to all charges and received their sentences. José Gómez-Álvarez and Chyanne Porter were arrested on September 30, 2022, after deputies with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department discovered human remains inside a storage unit rented by the couple.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WEIGHTThe discovery came after a missing person report led authorities to the couple’s home. The complaint states that Alvarez and Porter cared for several children while living a transient lifestyle. When authorities initially questioned the couple about the missing girl, Porter claimed the girl was in the hospital.
However, further investigation led agents to a storage unit in Owensboro. There, the police found human remains inside a container. When questioned, Álvarez and Porter admitted that the 9-year-old girl had died on February 7, 2022. According to their accountAlvarez discovered the girl was unresponsive while Porter was at work.
Alvarez allegedly attempted to perform CPR and contacted Porter, but did not notify authorities. The couple said they feared that reporting his death would result in separation from their other children. In a chilling admission, the couple explained that after failing to revive the girl, they wrapped her body in a blanket and kept it in the rented unit.
However, court documents reveal a more disturbing pattern of abuse. The couple’s other children provided statements alleging that Alvarez and Porter routinely withheld food from them, suffocated them and forced them to sleep in the basement. The documents also indicate that only Alvarez’s children were subjected to abuse, not Porter’s.
At the time, the couple had five children under their care: three from Alvarez and two from Porter, all from previous relationships. Chyanne Porter pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of criminal abuse of a child under 12 years of age. She was sentenced to seven years in prison.
José Gómez-Álvarez pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. The case sheds light on a heartbreaking situation of neglect and abuse that authorities believe had persisted long before the tragic discovery.