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Arrest made in presumed ‘unnatural death’ of missing toddler Mariah Woods

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A 3-year-old North Carolina girl is presumed dead of unnatural causes and her mother’s boyfriend has been charged with covering it up, WRAL-TV reports.

Police on Friday arrested 32-year-old Earl Kimrey on multiple charges in connection with the disappearance of 3-year-old Mariah Kay Woods, who has been missing since Monday.

Investigators have obtained information that indicates the girl is dead, although they have not yet found a body, according to the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office.

The arrest warrant indicates Kimrey obstructed Justice by “removing Mariah Woods’ body from the scene of her death and did conceal Mariah Woods’ death and body, knowing that Mariah Woods died from unnatural causes. The defendant acted with deceit and intent to fraud.”

“At this time, the location of Mariah is unknown. The searches will now shift to a recovery process,” a statement from the sheriff’s office reads.

A WCNC reporter who has obtained the arrest documents Tweeted on Saturday morning that the documents indicate the suspect disposed of the little girl’s body.

Kimrey, who lived in the same home as Mariah and her mother, faces charges of obstructing justice, concealing a death, second-degree burglary, possession of stolen property and larceny.

Mariah’s mother told authorities she last saw the child at their family home on Sunday night when she put her daughter to bed. She later called police at about 6 a.m. Monday to report the girl missing. An Amber Alert was subsequently issued.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, the FBI said on Thursday that it took “items of interest” for analysis and testing to its laboratory near Washington, D.C.

Sheriff Hans Miller said earlier Friday that family members were cooperating. The girl’s parents are divorced. Her father, Alex Woods, said the past week has been “like hell, like a nightmare.”

Kimrey has a criminal record that includes charges of assault, larceny and drunk and disorderly conduct dating back to 2005, court records show.

He is in jail on a $1 million bond.

 

[Feature image: Police handout/Mariah Woods]