TOLEDO, Ohio — Human remains found in a box in the rafters of a garage are those of a toddler last seen about three months ago inside a house on the same property, police said Tuesday.
DNA tests confirmed the skeletal remains are of 19-month-old Elaina Steinfurth, said Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan.
Investigators found the remains last Thursday inside a box behind other containers and piles of trash in the detached garage’s rafters. The home where the girl was last known to be alive belongs to the family of a man who had been dating the girl’s mother.
Both the mother, Angela Steinfurth, and her now-estranged boyfriend, Steven King II, are in jail and accused of obstructing justice. Prosecutors will decide whether to file any additional charges, Heffernan said.
“They’re not going anywhere, anytime soon,” he said.
Steinfurth and her two daughters stayed with King at his family’s home on June 1, investigators said. The girl’s father went to the residence to pick up his two daughters the next day, but only Elaina’s 4-year-old sister could be found.
Investigators have said Steinfurth knew Elaina had been seriously injured and didn’t seek medical help. They would not say what type of injuries the toddler had or who caused them.
Steinfurth has been in jail since mid-June. Her attorney has declined to comment.
King was charged in July with lying to investigators about the child’s disappearance. He told reporters after his arrest that he is innocent.
Authorities, including the FBI, and volunteers had searched homes, parks, vacant buildings and the Maumee River near downtown Toledo for any sign of Elaina.
Officers also searched both the home and the garage in the days after she disappeared.
They went to back to the home Thursday and removed the box with the remains, just hours after King appeared in court at a hearing where his trial date was scheduled. Investigators would not say what led them to return to the garage.
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