A five-year-old girl reported missing after her mother was accused of offering her for sexual exploitation was discovered dead along a densely wooded road in rural North Carolina on Monday, ending a week-long search, authorities said.
Fayetteville Police spokesperson Theresa Chance declined to release details regarding the cause of death or the condition of Shaniya Davis’s body.
“We have many people at the scene who are deeply affected,” Chance said. “Detectives have been working tirelessly, fueled by adrenaline, to bring this little girl home alive. Right now, there’s a lot of shock and grief.”
Two individuals have been charged in connection with her disappearance, including her mother, 25-year-old Antoinette Davis.
Davis faces charges of human trafficking and felony child abuse, with authorities stating that she offered Shaniya for prostitution.
Her first court appearance was scheduled for Monday afternoon, and police confirmed she did not yet have legal representation.
Also charged was 29-year-old Mario Andrette McNeill, who authorities say kidnapped Shaniya after surveillance footage captured him carrying her into a Sanford hotel.
McNeill reportedly admitted to taking the child, though his attorney said he intends to plead not guilty.
Shaniya was reported missing by her mother on Tuesday.
Authorities initially arrested a man named Clarence Coe, but charges against him were dropped after a tip from a hotel employee led police to McNeill.
Additional leads took investigators to a search area near Sanford on Sunday. On Monday, they continued combing the area, covering miles of roads, fields, ravines, and woods with four-wheelers and helicopters.
After Shaniya’s body was recovered, volunteers gathered quietly at a nearby fire station to account for everyone involved in the search.
“We were hoping someone could bring her home safely,” said Syd Severe, 42, who traveled from Raleigh to assist. “It’s just heartbreaking.”
Emergency vehicles and law enforcement were stationed near the location of the discovery, along Highway 87—a rural area popular with hunters and less than a mile from a large lakeside community.
Shaniya’s father, Bradley Lockhart, said he had been raising his daughter for several years but had recently allowed her to stay with her mother. He had pleaded publicly for her safe return.
“I should never have let her go there,” he told The Associated Press on Saturday.
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