Remains in North Carolina positively identified as slain 3-year-old Mariah Woods, DA says

The remains found in Pender County, North Carolina, have been positively identified as the 3-year-old girl who was the center of an Amber Alert, officials said.

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The Onslow County District Attorney's Office confirmed to WTVD that the remains are Mariah Woods. The remains were found last weekend after her mother reported her missing more than a week ago.

The identification comes just as a public visitation gets underway Wednesday for the little girl in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

>> PAST COVERAGE: $1M bond set for man charged in 3-year-old NC girl's death

On Tuesday, documents showed that Mariah may have been sexually abused by her mother’s live-in boyfriend, according to new court documents.

Court documents obtained by WTVD list several acts of abuse against Mariah Woods and her two brothers.

The court documents accuse Earl Kimrey of sexually abusing Mariah and hitting the two boys with a belt – one of them in the face, causing a nosebleed.

Kristy Woods, the children’s mother, knew of the sexual abuse and “failed to protect the juveniles from exposure to sexual abuse,” according to the court documents.

WTVD also obtained a custody order that was filed by Mariah's biological father, Alex Woods, in the summer of 2016. It claimed that Mariah and his two sons weren't safe at his ex-wife's home.

Mariah was reported missing by her mother on Nov. 27. Her body was found on Dec. 1 in a creek in Pender County, miles from her Onslow County home.

Kimrey was arrested Dec. 1 and charged with concealing of death, obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, felony larceny and possession of stolen property.

Kimrey is being held in the Onslow County Detention Center under a $1,010,000 bond.

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