The body of a 2-year-old girl who went missing in Louisiana Friday has been found in Mississippi, with her stepfather arrested in connection with her death.
Authorities found the body of Nevaeh Allen in a remote area across state lines in Mississippi, Sunday afternoon, after a two-day search for the girl.
They arrested stepfather Phillip Gardner, 30, and charged him with disposing of the body, but have so far not charged him in connection to her death.
The toddler was reported missing in her Baton Rouge neighborhood two days prior, police reported.
Authorities reported that they had found the body of missing Louisiana toddler Nevaeh Allen (pictured) Sunday afternoon across state lines in Mississippi, two days after she was reported missing
The girl's mother, Lanaya Cardwell, said Gardner had put her down for a nap and fell asleep himself at around 1pm.
But when her oldest son returned home hours later, he found the front door open and Nevaeh missing, while Gardiner still slept, WVLA reported.
Cardwell, who affectionately referred to her daughter as Nu Nu, was away at work at the time of the disappearance, and noted that she was not known to wander off.
'I never once had to correct Nevaeh for even leaving the house without an adult. Navaeh knows better,' she said.
Allen's stepfather Phillip Gardner was arrested in connection to Nevaeh's disappearance after he admitted to disposing of her body to police. He has so far not been charged in her death
The girl's disappearance sparked a massive search, and on Saturday the FBI was called to aide in the effort.
'Nevaeh, the little girl, my little boy and her daddy drove me to work and that’s the last time I saw my baby,' she told WAFB amid the frantic search for her daughter. 'I don’t know what could have happened. I don't know what went wrong, I wish would have stayed home from work. I don’t know, I don’t know.'
Gardner had initially told investigators that he was at home sleeping when he awoke to find Nevaeh had vanished, and the door unlocked.
'The story done changed,' Baton Rouge police spokesman Sgt. L'Jean McKneely Jr. said Sunday
