A toddler last seen in December but not reported missing until two months later has been confirmed as the child found dead on a Tennessee property late last week, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has announced.
Authorities have not revealed how 15-month-old Evelyn Mae Boswell died.
The little girl's body was positively identified after being found Friday night at a residence that belonged to a "family member of Evelyn's mother," investigators said, according to CNN.
“We have a sad update to pass along in our ongoing search for answers” in Evelyn’s death, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a tweet Wednesday. “Remains found on Friday evening have been confirmed to be those of the little girl.”
Authorities received a tip to check out the property, according to CNN, but authorities have not revealed where exactly they found her body. Alongside the girl, they say, were clothes, diapers and toys.
Police issued a statewide AMBER Alert on Feb. 19 after the girl's 18-year-old mother, Megan Boswell, waited two months to report her missing.
Boswell was arrested Feb. 25 in Blountville, Tennessee, and charged with lying to police to hinder the investigation, according to the Sullivan County Sheriff's office.
Her bond was increased to $150,000 from $25,000 at a Monday hearing after prosecutors argued she could become a flight risk and also pointed out her history of false statements, CNN reported.
A day after Boswell's arrest, investigators used a remote-controlled device to scour a pond in in Shepherds Crossroads, in Wilkes County, N.C., in search for the girl, but came up empty, the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office announced.
Previously, Boswell had told local news media that the child was with a trusted babysitter but would not name the person.
Asked why she didn't immediately contact authorities, Boswell said, “I knew that as soon as anything went down this person was going to disappear,” The Washington Post reports.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has said Dec. 26 was the last day the girl was seen, but authorities admit that conflicting information had frustrated every attempt to pinpoint the exact date of the girl's disappearance.
“Every time we talk to her, her story changes,” Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said at a Wednesday news conference, according to reports. “I’m serious when I say that. Every single time.”
The girl was declared missing Feb. 18 after the Department of Children's Services contacted authorities.
Little Evelyn was last seen in a pink tracksuit, pink shoes and a pink bow. Cassidy said his department had followed up on more than 570 tips, The Washington Post reported.
Court records say Megan Boswell originally told police that her baby was with her father, who is an Army service member stationed in Louisiana, according to news reports. When police checked, they found that he hadn't seen the girl in about two months, according to reports.
Boswell also said that her mother, Angela Boswell, 42, had taken the girl to a campground in another state, but that lead also turned out to be untrue, police said.
In late February police arrested the older Boswell, who is the child's grandmother, and her boyfriend, William McCloud, about 65 miles southeast of Sullivan County in Wilkes County, N.C., where the pond was later searched.
Police say they were in a stolen BMW. Both are currently being held on that charge as the investigation continues to develop, reports said.
Both have been extradited back to Tennessee, according to reports.
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