Hickory Police Identify Skull of Murdered Child

A human skull found near Hickory last year has been positively identified.

North Carolina police say a skull found a year ago by hunters in the woods is that of a disabled girl who was killed by her stepmother.

Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins says DNA tests show it was Zahra Baker. But he says police are still unable to say how the 10-year-old girl died. Elisa Baker is serving up to 18 years in prison for killing her stepdaughter.

The girl was reported missing in October 2011 from her home in the western North Carolina town of Hickory.

Parts of Zahra Baker's remains were found in multiple sites around Hickory shortly after her reported disappearance, including the child's prosthetic leg. Zahra was a bone cancer survivor and lost a leg to the disease.

The case captivated the attention of communities here and in Australia, where Zahra had lived before her father moved to the United States to marry Elisa.

Last April, the Hickory community built the Zahra Baker All-Children's Playground, a playground in memory of the little freckle-faced girl.