Accused Makes First Court Appearance in Death of 3-Year-Old Mariah Woods

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The entire nation has been following the case of 3-year-old Mariah Woods from Jacksonville, North Carolina. The girl was reported missing by her mother at the end of November and initially, authorities were led to believe that the young child was abducted from her bedroom in the middle of the night.

Mariah’s mother had told police that she checked on the child, who had a walking disability, the night before her disappearance around 11:00 PM. Then, her boyfriend apparently checked on the child around midnight.

The next morning when they woke up, she was gone.

An Amber Alert was immediately issued, and authorities hoped to find Mariah as quickly as possible.

However, as the investigation continued, suspicions grew that the 3-year-old was deceased.

Early on Saturday morning, December 2nd, authorities announced that an arrest was made in connection with the Mariah Woods investigation.

The mother’s boyfriend, Earl Kimery, was detained on Friday in relation to the child’s death. Shortly after, Mariah’s body was discovered in a nearby creek.

Kimrey is now facing multiple charges including concealing of death, obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, felony larceny, and possession of stolen property. Authorities have not officially stated if he is a murder suspect.

The arrest warrant however revealed that he disposed of the child’s body knowing she died from “unnatural causes,” acting with “deceit and intent to fraud,” according to ABC News.

 It is unclear whether Mariah’s mother knew about Kimrey’s actions or had any involvement.

Kimrey made his very first court appearance on Monday, December 4th.

The court hearing was very short with the result being that Kimrey will remain on a $1.1 million bond and his next court date is set for December 18th.

Kimrey was reportedly arrested in the past on assault charges, threatening a government official, and being drunk and disorderly.

There are still so many unanswered questions about this case, however, an autopsy will soon reveal how the toddler died, hopefully leading to more information.