Austin Robert Drummond, 28, is sought in connection to the deaths of James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15, whose bodies were located on Tuesday in Tiptonville, situated in north-west Tennessee’s Lake County, the TBI reported.

The four were discovered deceased just hours after Wilson’s and Adrianna Williams’ infant daughter was found abandoned on Tuesday afternoon in a car seat in a “random” front yard close to the Dyer County community of Tigrett, approximately a 40-mile (64-kilometer) journey southeast of Tiptonville, according to the authorities.

Baby found abandoned hours before bodies discovered

The case was initiated on Tuesday afternoon when the baby was discovered in a car seat in a front yard near Tigrett, as stated by the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office.

Prompted by a 911 call from an observer who spotted the child, investigators were examining claims that a “dark-colored minivan or a white mid-size SUV” might have dropped off the baby there, the sheriff’s office mentioned; the heat index at the time was 116 degrees (46 degrees Celsius).

The baby girl is approximately 7 months old, Goodman said.

A few hours after the child’s abandonment, the sheriff’s office revealed four individuals – later identified as the child’s relatives – were found dead in Tiptonville.

The bodies were found on Tuesday along Tiptonville’s Carrington Road, the TBI said without elaborating.

The TBI, when CNN contacted it with questions about the investigation, referred only to its news releases. The releases do not detail how the four were killed, how they were found, whether investigators know of a motive, or who may have left the baby in the yard near Tigrett.

“This is a deeply saddening day for our community,” Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. 

“We are committed to uncovering the truth and ensuring justice is served.”

Nearly a dozen agencies are working on the case, including the FBI and a US Marshals Service fugitive task force, the TBI said.