Funeral set for Saturday for 11-year-old found in freezer

Author: The Associated Press
Published: Updated:
PHOTO CREDIT: WTSP

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.

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