6-Year-Old Girl's Body Found Stuffed In Bucket On Mother's Lawn; Woman Arrested

A 6-year-old kindergartener was found dead in a bucket outside her mother's house in Louisiana.

A woman, identified as the girlfriend of the deceased child's father, was arrested in connection with the death. The victim's mother and father were believed to have no involvement in the killing of the child, officials said.

The toddler, identified as Bella Fontenelle, was reported missing by her father Wednesday. The father told investigators that he woke up to find both Bella and his girlfriend missing from their Harahan home. The father's older child was in the house at the time and was unharmed, according to WDSU.

The 43-year-old girlfriend, who went by the name Hannah Landon or Bunnak Lim, had been with the father for "several years," officials said.

Bella was found dead inside a plastic bucket on her mother's front lawn, which is a block away from her father's house, at around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday.

Investigators checked surveillance footage from neighbors' residence and saw Landon casually pulling the white bucket down a sidewalk in one of the video clips, according to WSAZ News. She was captured pulling the bucket in a wagon to the child's mother's house. It appeared there were no attempts to hide or be discrete from Landon when a vehicle passed her.

Officials alleged that Landon first murdered the 6-year-old girl and then placed her body inside the lidded 10-gallon chlorine bucket.

After locating Bella's body, officials frantically searched for Landon who found her at a local hospital around 2 p.m. Wednesday. Police took her into custody and charged her with first-degree murder and obstruction of justice, officials said.

Bella suffered "multiple injuries" to her body and the Jefferson Parish coroner ruled her death a homicide following an autopsy.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto said it was unclear whether the bucket was first opened by the mother or by officers while looking for the girl.

Lopinto said both parents of the child victim were devastated after the shocking discovery.

"Dad went through extensive interviews today, and we don't believe he was involved in the murder by any means," Lopinto revealed. "As you can imagine, both him and the mother are extremely upset, as you would expect of anyone who lost a 6-year-old child unexpectedly."

Neighbors expressed shock over child's tragic death who was a part of the tight-knit community.

"It's beyond shocking, I am shaking. Something like this could happen," one neighbor told WWLTV, while another neighbor said, "Shocking, absolutely shocking, it's very upsetting, this doesn't happen here. I feel so bad for the family."