Delaware Police: Remains Found Last Year Belong to 3-Year-Old Girl, 2 Charged

The missing child in question. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Authorities said they have identified the remains of a 3-year-old girl whose body was found about a year ago in Delaware, adding that two people were charged in the case.

It took about 13 months for authorities to identify the body of Emma Coles, Smyrna Police Sgt. Brian Donner said on Friday.

Kristie Haas, 28, and Brendan Haas, 38, were arrested in connection to the case, Donner told Fox News. He did not say what they were charged with, adding they were located in Pennsylvania.

A Pennsylvania judge set their bond at $1 million, which is an amount that is reserved for serious charges, including homicide, according to Delaware Online. Indiana court records showed that Emma was Kristie Haas’s daughter, although officials did not elaborate on their relationship.

Police said Emma had been dead for several weeks when she was located in a park near softball fields in Smyrna in September 2019. Kristie Haas and her husband were evicted from a house that was located near the fields, according to Delaware Online, citing records.

Last year, police in Smyrna called on federal officials as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Delaware Division of Forensic Science to help identify the girl.

The child had slightly wavy brown hair, and an “anthropological exam of her remains suggests that she suffered from chronic illness(es),” police said at the time. “There is some evidence of a fire at or near the crime scene which is why we have involved the State Fire Marshal’s office in our investigation,” officials also said.

Donner previously said the girl was not considered a missing person.

“We don’t have any internal missing children that would match what we found out there,” he said, according to CrimeOnline. “We’ve reached out to all our partner agencies in state, and also out of state. We kind of have an all-points bulletin out there for the limited amount of information we do have to see if anyone can match that to any active cases they have.”

Those with more information can contact Smyrna Police Detective Bill Davis at 302-653-3490, reach out to the department on Facebook or Twitter, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, or call the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.