Evidence in Zahra Baker Case Given to Prosecution

Dec. 19, 2010— -- Police in North Carolina investigating the death of 10-year-old disabled girl Zahra Baker have handed the case over to prosecutors, leading to speculation that a suspect in the young girl's murder will be arrested imminently.

According to the Hickory Daily Record, Hickory, N.C. police Chief Tom Adkins said the district attorney will review the case and make a decision.

"We turned over a preliminary case file to the District Attorney's Office for him to start reviewing and consider what course of action he wants to take concerning who he wants to charge and what charges he wants to pursue," Adkins told the newspaper.

Baker's dismembered remains were found early last month after a month-long search. Though no one has been arrested in connection with her death, her stepmother Elisa Baker has been jailed on obstruction of justice charges. Police say she wrote a fake $1 million ransom note, which was discovered at the family's home the day Zahra was reported missing.

The remains of Baker, whose struggle with cancer left her wearing a prosthetic leg and hearing aids, were discovered scattered in rural areas during a search in Caldwell County, N.C., where the Baker family previously lived. Police had looked through the area earlier while accompanied by her stepmother.

Two weeks before police announced they had discovered Zahra Baker's remains, Elisa Baker indicated in a jailhouse letter that the child was dead, but expressed no remorse or guilt -- only self-pity and vague accusations against her husband, Adam Baker.

In the letters -- written to crime memorabilia dealer Eric Gein while she was in custody -- Elisa Baker said Adam did something "horrifying" to Zahra after she was dead. Adam Baker's attorney told ABC News in November that those claims were nothing more than a "desperate" attempt at distraction.