Search for missing girl leads to ‘horrific’ discovery, sheriff says

a person’s parents 4-year-old girl killed her daughter’s body and threw it in the trash Before reporting her missing, he launched a massive and fruitless search in South Carolina to bring her home alive, authorities said in the criminal complaint.

Javeayah Harris was reported missing by her family on June 30, according to the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities searched thousands of acres for days, urging residents to check their properties and small areas where a child might be hiding. Local, state and federal authorities joined the search by air and ground. Digital billboards plastered his image throughout the area.

Initially, the sheriff’s office said she disappeared from the family home in Aiken, a city of about 33,000 about 20 miles outside Augusta, Georgia, around 8:15 p.m. that day.

But days later, authorities announced that they had arrested her parents and believed Javeayah was dead and had likely been there for a month when she was reported missing. On July 9, they said some of Javeayah’s remains were found.

The killers “dumped” what remained of her body in a reservoir in South Carolina, authorities said July 9.

“I’m really tired of sharing what this investigation has uncovered,” Aiken County Sheriff Marty Sawyer said at a news conference alongside other law enforcement officers who wore pink ties and ribbons because it was Javeayah’s favorite color.

The girl’s parents, Johmarea Harris, 23, and Michilae Herring, 22, were charged with murder for child abuse. Herring was also charged with filing a false police report. Sawyer added a new charge on July 9: destruction and desecration of human remains.

Sawyer said evidence shows the discarded remains were about a month old. The sheriff admitted he had more to say about Harris and Herring but could not protect the “integrity” of the case.

“But let me tell you this: I’m not going to call them ‘mom-dad’ or ‘mom-dad.’ They don’t deserve that title,” he said.

Previously from USA TODAY Network: The missing Aiken girl was believed dead; parents accused of murder

Remains found after 4-year-old boy reported missing

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources divers explored Cedar Creek Reservoir in Fairfield County, about 100 miles from Aiken, and found a small number of human remains that were analyzed and confirmed to be from the “biological offspring” of two parents, according to officials.

Sawyer said the investigation revealed “corrosive chemicals and other means were used to accelerate the destruction of his small body.”

He said the parents took “extensive and deliberate” measures to destroy and conceal evidence. He said there was little hope of recovering any further remains.

“I know this is heartbreaking for everyone following this case,” the sheriff said, his voice breaking. “It is heartbreaking for our office and all law enforcement agencies statewide who have worked countless hours on this case to find every piece of evidence in hopes of bringing Javeayah home.”

“I’ve never heard of anything this terrible,” Sawyer said in his 37-year law enforcement career.

Sawyer said the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office will continue to search for leads and evidence and will work with the Second Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office to help “get justice for Javeayah.”

This article first appeared in the Augusta Chronicle: Search for missing girl will result in ‘horrific’ discovery, sheriff says