The parents of 4-year-old Javeayah Harris, the focus of a days-long search in South Carolina, have been arrested and charged with homicide by child abuse.

Michilae Herring, 22, and Johmarea Harris, 23, were taken into custody Saturday. Both face additional charges of filing a false police report. They were booked into the Aiken County Detention Center.

Aiken County Sheriff Marty Sawyer confirmed the grim development during a press conference. “It’s the outcome we all feared and sadly the outcome we must face,” he said. Authorities believe Javeayah has been dead for about a month. Her body has not yet been located.

Investigators are now searching areas outside Aiken County, with assistance from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, including helicopter support in the Great Falls area of Union County. Neighbors reported not seeing the girl for months.

The case has devastated the community, with authorities urging continued public assistance in locating the child’s remains. The arrests mark a tragic turn in what began as a missing child investigation.

Source: NY Post