Mariah Woods Case Update: 3-Year-Old's Body Found In Creek, Mother's Boyfriend Arrested
Authorities believe that the body of missing 3-year-old Mariah Woods, who had been missing for more than five days, was found Saturday, the FBI said.
This news came after authorities in North Carolina arrested the girl's mother's live-in boyfriend and charged him with concealing the death of the toddler and other offenses in connection to the murder.
Officials said a dive team member found the little girl's body around 5:30 p.m. EST on Saturday in waters in a remote part of Pender County, North Carolina, ABC affiliate WCTI reported.
FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lynch said in a statement the body was in Holly Shelter Creek along Shaw Highway in Pender County creek about 25 miles from Mariah Woods' home in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
The medical examiner is yet to identify the body, but investigators said they are confident it is Mariah, Lynch stated.
The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI detained Mariah’s mother’s live-in boyfriend 32-year-old Earl Kimery on Friday in connection with the disappearance of the toddler, WRAL reported.
He was accused of "removing Mariah Woods' body from the scene of her death" and concealing "Mariah Woods' death and body, knowing that Mariah died from unnatural causes. The defendant acted with deceit and intent to fraud," Kimery's arrest warrant stated.
The Sheriff’s office had said earlier in a statement on Saturday morning that collected evidence suggested that the toddler was dead.
Authorities issued an amber alert for Mariah last Monday, the same day her mother, Kristy Woods, reported to the police that she was missing. Woods told authorities that she put her daughter to bed Sunday evening and woke up to find her gone from their house in Jacksonville.
Mariah, the 3-year-old toddler's disappearance sparked a massive search effort, with investigators and volunteers from the community coming together to search for the missing child. Hundreds of people gathered in Onslow County, North Carolina, on Thursday to search for her.
Kimery has also been charged with obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, larceny and possession of stolen property. According to state records obtained by NBC affiliate WRAL, Kimery had previously been charged with larceny, assault and drunk and disorderly conduct.
Mariah’s mother is divorced from the girl's father, Alex Woods, who said that while his daughter is with her mother his weeks are "like hell, like a nightmare."
"Somebody just walks right in there, grabs a 3-year-old out of the bed, she didn’t cry, she didn’t scream?" he had said before Kimery’s arrest. "Nobody heard nothing? Four people in the house, two adults and two babies and somebody just comes, snatches the baby up and walks out?"
Kimery is being held in the Onslow County Detention Center and his bond is set at a $1,010,000.
Investigators declined to disclose further details about the toddler's death, however they indicated that Kimery knew how she died and tried to cover it up, according to Time magazine.
"It was too late to save Mariah the moment the 911 call came in," FBI agent Stanley Meador said of the call the girl’s mother made on Monday to report her missing. "The arrest warrants are public record and the records speaks for themselves. We will not discuss any details related to the homicide investigation."
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