Delaware cops say remains found last year belong to girl, 3; couple charged
It took police 13 months to identify the remains as that of Emma Cole
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cops say remains found last year in Delaware belong to a 3-year-old girl, as they charged the girl's mother and her husband in the death, according to a report.
It took police 13 months to identify the remains as Emma Cole's. Investigators weren't revealing how they made the identification, Smyrna Police Sgt. Brian Donner told Fox News on Friday.
Smyrna police in Delaware released these images in hopes of identifying remains of a little girl found near softball fields in September. (Smyrna Police Department)
The identification was announced Thursday along with the arrests in Pennsylvania of former Smyrna residents Kristie Haas, 28, and Brendan Haas, 38, in Emma’s death. Donner wouldn't say what they had been charged with.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DELAWARE POLICE RELEASE FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION IMAGES AFTER FINDING REMAINS OF YOUNG GIRL
He also wouldn't say what connection the couple had to Emma.
The Wilmington News Journal reported Thursday that Kristie Haas was Emma’s mother, citing Indiana court records.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News found the court records involved the appointment of a guardian for Emma shortly after her birth. Kristie Haas was using the name Kristie Cole at the time.
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Police believe Emma had been dead several weeks when they found her body in a park in Smyrna with softball fields in September 2019.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The News Journal reported that a month later Kristie Haas and her husband were evicted from a house they lived in near the fields.
Last November police released facial reconstruction images hoping to identify the remains.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At the time, they said, “An anthropological exam of her remains suggests that she suffered from chronic illness.”