Police say the child had not been seen since Christmas Day, and investigators now plan a long search at a Coffee County landfill.
ENTERPRISE, Ala. — The mother of a missing Enterprise toddler has been charged with capital murder and abuse of a corpse after investigators said the 2-year-old girl was killed months before she was reported missing and her body was thrown into a dumpster.
Enterprise Police Chief Michael Moore announced Monday that Adrienne Reid was charged in the death of her daughter, Genesis Reid, on what would have been the girl’s third birthday. The announcement marked a major turn in a case that began as a missing-child search in February and has now shifted to a homicide investigation and a difficult effort to recover the child’s remains.
The case began early Feb. 16, when police said Adrienne Reid reported that Genesis was gone from their apartment on Apache Drive. Officers were told the front door was open and the toddler had apparently wandered away overnight. A search in and around the area did not produce answers. By the next day, detectives said they had found major problems in the mother’s account and arrested her on a felony false-reporting charge. As the investigation widened, police said they reviewed surveillance footage, interviewed witnesses and retraced the child’s last known movements. Moore said detectives later determined Genesis had not been seen since Christmas Day. Investigators then obtained video from a nearby residence that, according to police, showed Adrienne Reid moving toward the apartment complex dumpster with a rolling duffel bag at about 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 25.
Police said more video recorded two days later showed the mother returning to the dumpster area with toys and other belongings believed to have belonged to Genesis. Moore said investigators reached the conclusion that Genesis was killed, placed in a duffel bag and discarded. Authorities have not said publicly how the child died, and court records available through local reporting did not describe a recovered body because the remains have not yet been found. Coffee County District Attorney James Tarbox said prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if the case results in a conviction. He also said Adrienne Reid is expected to make an initial court appearance on the new charges before District Judge Josh Wilson later this week. Her lawyer, David Harrison, pushed back on the case in comments to WTVY, saying police and prosecutors are relying on theories and that the state still must prove its claims beyond a reasonable doubt.
Attention has now turned to the Coffee County landfill, where officials believe Genesis’ remains may be located. Sheriff Scott Byrd said investigators used truck schedules and GPS records from landfill equipment to narrow the search zone to roughly 200 feet by 100 feet and about eight to 10 feet deep. Byrd said the search will be slow because the contents from the relevant dumpster were picked up Dec. 26, compacted in a garbage truck, transferred, compacted again and then further processed at the landfill. He said the work could take 10 weeks or longer. A specialized team from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is helping finalize the search plan, and officials have warned the public that the recovery effort will be painstaking. Earlier in the investigation, police said multiple agencies, including state and federal partners, were assisting and that detectives were reviewing devices, surveillance footage and witness accounts.
The case has shaken Enterprise for weeks. In February, police said Genesis had not been seen in several weeks and asked the public for information about anyone who had contact with Adrienne Reid between late December and mid-February. Officials also mentioned a woman known as Moriah as a person of interest early in the case, then later clarified that another woman in the neighborhood with a similar name was not the person investigators were seeking. City officials repeatedly said finding Genesis was their highest priority, and Moore described the case as both personal and professional for investigators. Monday’s announcement ended hopes that the child would be found alive, but it did not end the search for answers. The remains have not been recovered, the defense is contesting the state’s theory, and the next phase of the case will move through court while crews prepare to begin digging through tons of refuse in the landfill.
As of Tuesday, Adrienne Reid remained jailed, and authorities said the next key steps are her court appearance and the launch of the landfill search expected to stretch over several weeks.
Author note: Last updated March 10, 2026.