The body of a 5-year-old girl who went missing a day ago was found Thursday in a vacant mobile home in Gulfport, Mississippi, the Associated Press reported.
Gulfport police said Janaya Makayia Thompson was found Thursday morning in an empty mobile home on Whitney Drive, located just five minutes from where her she disappeared in front of her family's apartment. Police used a K-9 unit and a piece of the girl's clothing to help locate the body, according to the Sun Herald.
Investigators are treating Janaya's death as a homicide.
The 5-year-old's mother reported her missing at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday after she was last seen in the parking lot of her family's apartment on Klein Road.
Police are not yet sure what caused the girl's disappearance or who was involved, the Sun Herald reported. A man was questioned at the scene where Janaya disappeared Wednesday night, but he was later released, according to the child's family.
Witnesses said the man had what appeared to be bite marks on his hands. Police have not confirmed those reports, the newspaper reported.
Janaya's father, Jamal Thompson, said he believes the same man drove him and other family members around to help search for his daughter.
Thompson also said the man kept disappearing, and that brown hair and a barrette was eventually found in his car.
"They showed it to me but I didn't want to tamper with evidence," Thompson told the Sun Herald. "It was surreal," he added.
Janaya, who was to start kindergarten in a few weeks, lived at The Palms Apartment complex with her mother, father and other relatives. There was nothing in the child's family life to indicate why something like this would happen, authorities said.
"She was very sweet, talkative and never met a stranger," Janaya's aunt, Greta Hinton, said of her niece. "She was real lovable."
It was not immediately known what caused the girl's death. The Harrison County Coroner, who confirmed the girls' identity, is expected to perform an autopsy by Friday morning.
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