Remains found at steam plant IDed as missing Virginia toddler

HAMPTON, Va. (WTVR) -- Authorities have confirmed the remains discovered at the Hampton NASA steam plant earlier this month are those of missing 2-year-old Noah Tomlin.

Hampton Police made the announcement Saturday following an update from the Virginia Department of Forensic Science and the Medical Examiner's Office.

The remains were found at the city-owned steam plant in Hampton just before 9 a.m. on July 3, nine days after his mother reported him missing from their Hampton mobile home, Hampton Police Chief Terry Sult previously said. The boy's mother, Julia Tomlin, is charged in his disappearance.

City police officers -- suspecting the boy's body may have been taken to the plant or a landfill -- spent days sifting through about 2 million pounds of garbage by hand, Sult said.

The investigation began June 24 when the boy's mother, Julia Leanna Tomlin, reported him missing. She initially said her son was last seen when he was put to bed around 1 a.m.; she reported him missing that day at 11:36 a.m., Sult said.

In 2010, Julia Tomlin, Noah's mother, spent five months behind bars after pleading guilty to felony child neglect. Court documents say her then-1-year-old daughter was severely burned after Julia sat her down on a hot kitchen stove.

Hampton Police will continue to collaborate with The Hampton Commonwealth Attorney's Office to ensure this case "transitions" to the prosecution phase successfully, officials said.