OWENSBORO, KY – The disappearance of a young girl in the heart of the Midwest unfolded into a chilling tale of neglect, secrecy, and a desperate search for justice that spanned across state lines. Nine-year-old Alianna Maya Gomez-Alvarez vanished in late 2021, her absence going unnoticed by authorities for nearly a year, before a disturbing discovery in a Kentucky storage facility unraveled the dark truth behind her fate.
Chyanne Porter, 30, faced a Kentucky courtroom in December 2024, found guilty of playing a central role in the abuse and death of her boyfriend’s daughter. The charges brought against her painted a harrowing picture: complicity in criminal abuse, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. Porter sat behind bars in Daviess County for over a year as the case advanced. This week, she was transferred to the custody of Indiana’s Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, where a fresh set of accusations awaited her.
Indiana authorities have now charged Porter with nine separate offenses, including neglect of a dependent, obstruction of justice, and failure to report a dead body. The breadth of the allegations suggests a prolonged campaign of mistreatment and cover-up, affecting not just one but multiple children within the household.
Alianna’s story began to unravel not through the urgency of her caregivers but from the concern of someone outside the immediate family. It wasn’t until September 2022, well after Alianna’s last sighting, that a tip reached the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office. The caller noted the alarming absence of one child among the several being cared for in the Gomez-Alvarez household.
The subsequent investigation led deputies to a self-storage facility on New Hartford Road in Owensboro. There, a plastic tote concealed amid ordinary belongings told a story of concealed horror. Inside, the remains of Alianna, carefully wrapped in a blanket, bore silent witness to the suffering she had endured.
Detectives soon pieced together the fractured lives inside the family’s Evansville, Indiana, home. Jose Gomez-Alvarez, Alianna’s father, shared the residence with Porter, their two biological children, and three others from his previous relationship – including Alianna. Investigators learned that while the couple’s shared children reportedly received proper care, the others, including the victim, were subjected to neglect and abuse.
When questioned, the surviving children revealed a pattern of deprivation and violence. One child recounted, in words both direct and haunting, how Alianna was routinely denied food and became “very, very skinny.” Another disclosed that physical punishment—hitting, choking, and starvation—was a regular part of their home life, and alleged that after Alianna died, her body was first hidden in the basement before being transferred to the storage unit.
As authorities put the pieces together, records showed that after Alianna’s death, Porter and Gomez-Alvarez checked into a local motel before transporting the child’s remains, treating the somber tote as though it were nothing more than a container of toys.
Justice has begun to catch up with those responsible. Porter received a seven-year sentence in Kentucky for her actions. Gomez-Alvarez, now 34, was handed a five-year sentence after admitting to abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. So far, there are no records indicating he faces further charges in Indiana.
With Porter now in Indiana’s custody, prosecutors there are preparing to press forward with their case. A date for her trial has yet to be announced, and court records do not show that she has formally entered a plea. As the legal process continues, the community is left to grapple with the tragedy that unfolded in their midst and the haunting questions over how one little girl’s suffering passed unseen for so long.