BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – Funeral services for an 11-year-old girl whose body was found in a relative’s freezer have been scheduled.
The Bradenton Herald (http://bit.ly/1NLDhSp) reports that Janiya Thomas’ funeral will be Saturday.
An obituary lists Oct. 18 as the day Janiya died. It’s the same day her body was found in a padlocked freezer at her relatives’ house.
Janiya was reported missing two days earlier by Manatee County Sheriff’s Office child protective investigators after her mother refused to tell them or a judge anything about the girl’s whereabouts and well-being. Sheriff’s investigators arrived at Thomas’ home to remove her five children as part of a child abuse investigation involving Thomas’ 12-year-old son, but only four were found.
The girl’s body was not positively identified until a week after its discovery in the freezer.