Nevada couple wanted for questioning after child found dead may be in Oakland

LAS VEGAS (KGO) -- Police in Nevada believe a couple wanted for questioning after their child was found dead might be in Oakland.

The case started when North Las Vegas police checked in on the couple's 17-year-old daughter and her baby. The 4-month-old showed signs of being malnourished and is in critical condition.

That led police to another home, where they found a 3-year-old girl dead. But they were unable to find her parents

Detectives believe 38-year-old Kellie Cherie Phillips and 39-year-old ex-convict Jondrew Megil Lachaux might be on the run with five other children - a 9-year-old girl and four boys ranging in age from 1 to 8 years old.

"We have a 4-month-old, who's fighting for its life at the hospital still," said North Las Vegas police Officer Aaron Patty. "So again, it is imperative for us to locate these children so we can verify the condition of them.

He said police believe Phillips and Lachaux abandoned the house several weeks or months ago, leaving the 17-year-old girl with the two younger children in a brown stucco two-story tract home with a tile roof on Wood Thrush Place, about 10 miles northwest of downtown Las Vegas.

The 17-year-old was taken into custody Wednesday, after police were alerted by hospital officials to the condition of the 4-month-old. A police SWAT team broke into the house Thursday to find the body of the 3-year-old.

The teen is the mother of the hospitalized child and sister of the dead child, and she is being held as a juvenile on child abuse and neglect allegations, Patty said.

He added that investigators believe the child had been dead for several days, and the teen and her baby remained in the house with the corpse until Wednesday.

Police say Phillips and Lachaux have contacts in Oakland and Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.