Body of Missing Infant Found in Attic

Oct. 21, 2007 — -- Authorities have found the body of an 11-month-old girl, who reported missing by her soldier father Ronald Earl Creech II Friday when he returned from his 15-month Iraq deployment, in the attic of North Carolina home.

Now, the girl's mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, 25, has been charged with first degree murder.

Investigators still are unsure of how Harmony Creech died. Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said Harmony Creech apparently had been dead for weeks when the body was discovered in the attic of Heuser's home.

"She then concealed the child. She was in fear and didn't tell anyone," Rollins said. "She concealed the death."

Initially, authorities issued an Amber Alert Saturday after Heuser said she had last seen the girl on Thursday night, wearing pink pajamas with the words "daddy's girl" on one arm. The alert was called off after the body was found.

When officers arrived at the home of the girl's mother, they found the window of the baby's room open, the screen on the ground and most of Harmony's clothes missing.

But after authorities found Harmony's remains, Heuser changed her story and said she found the infant dead several weeks ago but didn't tell anyone and panicked.

Police said they will perform an autopsy to determine how the child died, according the Associated Press.