Toddler found near Delaware softball fields identified; Pennsylvania couple arrested
10/12/2020 8:35 pm PDT
SMYRNA, Del. (TCD) --
Smyrna Police have identified the remains of a little girl whose body was found near a softball field complex in September, and announced the detention of two persons of interest in the case.
Police said the girl, who was found near the Little Lass softball fields in Smyrna on Sept. 13, 2019, has been preliminarily identified as 3-year-old Emma Cole.
Brandon Haas, 38, and Kristie Haas, 28, were taken into custody outside of Delaware, according to Smyrna Police. Both previously lived in Smyrna. Police did not immediately release further details. Police said detectives are still actively investigating the case.
Smyrna Police, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Delaware Division of Forensic Science investigators released forensic facial reconstructions of the girl in November.
Police at the time said the girl was Caucasian or Hispanic, between 2 and 5 years old, and may have suffered from a chronic illness, based on an anthropological examination of her remains. Further details of the circumstances of how the girl was found were not released.
The Delaware News Journal reports police believe the 3-year-old girl had been dead for "several weeks or possibly longer" when she was found.
Brandon and Kristie Haas were charged in Pennsylvania, and a Pennsylvania judge set their bond at $1 million, the News Journal reports.
They married in May 2017, according to Facebook posts found by the News Journal. Indiana court records show Emma is Kristie's daughter.
The News Journal reports that at the time Emma's remains were discovered in September, the couple lived in a home a little more than a mile from the softball fields, and they were evicted from the house in October 2019.
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