Child's remains found in Everett storage tote

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office detectives believe they have recovered the remains of a girl, about four years old, whose body was hidden in a plastic tote in Everett.

Key developments:

• Remains believed to be that of 4-year-old girl
• Girl believed to have died 4 years ago
• Relatives say girl lived with mother when she died
• Death was never reported
• Detectives began investigation last month
• Remains were found Tuesday in Everett

Detectives believe she died at least four years ago.

The circumstances surrounding the girl’s death and the disposal of her remains are under investigation.

The plastic tote was recovered after police served a search warrant in a home in the12600 block East Gibson Road in Everett Saturday.

On Tuesday, detectives and investigators from the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the tote contained the body of a young girl.

Her identification and the cause and manner of her death have not yet been determined.

The sheriff’s office began investigating the girl’s death and disappearance in October after information was received from a relative of the girl who said they were concerned about her disappearance.

Relatives of the girl told officers they believed the child had died at a home in the 15800 block of Admiralty Way in Lynnwood while the she was under the supervision of her biological mother.

Police said it was reported that the mother and her then-boyfriend had a history with law enforcement and “panicked” when they discovered the girl had died.

Relatives believed that the girl’s mother and boyfriend had wrapped up the girl, put her body into a storage container and kept it in their home until it began to decompose and smell.

Relatives told detectives they thought that the couple then poured concrete over the body in the container and kept it for several years, later stashing it a relative's home not long after moving out of their home on Admiralty Way.

Police said the girl’s mother told family members, including her other children, several versions of how the girl died.

The girl was never reported dead or missing to any law enforcement agency and was never enrolled in any school. The last official record that shows evidence to her being alive was Sept. 2010, when she received an immunization.

Currently, no arrests have been made and the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death and the disposal of her body remain under investigation.

The sheriff's office is working with Child Protective Services and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services in the investigation.

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