Authorities have positively identified the remains of a three-year-old girl who was found on a Delaware softball field 13 months ago, lead...
Authorities have positively identified the remains of a three-year-old girl who was found on a Delaware softball field 13 months ago, leading to the arrests of her mother and the woman's husband.
On Thursday, Smyrna police identified the girl as three-year-old Emma Cole. Her body was found on September. 13, 2019, by a person walking a dog through Little Lass Fields, a softball park across the road from Smyrna Middle School.
Police said there was evidence of a fire at the scene.
It is believed Emma was dead for several weeks before she was found. It took officials nearly 13 months to positively identify her.
Police in Pennsylvania on Tuesday arrested Kristie Haas, 28, and Brandon Haas, 38 (pictured), in the death of the woman's daughter, three-year-old Emma Cole
Delaware police on Thursday positively identify Emma Cole as the girl whose remains were found at a softball field last year. In November 2019 police released these facial recognition sketches with the hopes that a tipster would identify her
On September 4, 2019 a dog walker found the remains of the three-year-old at the Little Lass softball field on Duck Creek Parkway in Smyrna. The scene pictured taped off by police
No cause of death has been revealed as of Friday afternoon.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children doesn’t have a report on Emma, according to The Delaware News Journal, suggesting that Emma may have never been reported missing.
Authorities have identified the suspects arrested in her death as Emma's mother, 28-year-old Kristie Haas, previously known as Cole, and her husband, 38-year-old Brandon Haas.
The couple was arrested in Pennsylvania on Tuesday and charged with 'arrest without prior requisition,' which gives authorities the ability to arrest suspects for charges in another state.
However, it’s unclear whether the couple will face charges in Delaware.
The couple previously lived in Smyrna and were married in 2017, according to Facebook posts found by The Delaware News Journal.
Brandon and Kristie Haas married in 2017. Her Facebook indicates that she is a mother of four young children: three girls and a boy
Court records in Indiana, where Kristie is originally from, indicate that Emma was her daughter
In September 2019, the Haas family lived in a home located just over a mile from the softball field where Emma's body was found.
The couple, who apparently struggled financially, were evicted from their residence on North New Street a month later.
Photos shared on Kristie's page featured four young children - three girls and a boy - and she described herself as 'wife, mother of 4, blessed.'
The newspaper also looked at court records in Indiana, where Kristie Haas is originally from, which indicated that Emma was her daughter.
Delaware State News reported that a Pennsylvania judge has set bail for Brandon and Kristie Haas at $1million each. They are due back in court for an extradition hearing on November 4.
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