Johni Michelle Heuser, 25, is charged with first degree murder of her 11-month-old baby, Harmony Jade Creech.
SPRING LAKE, N.C. -- A Harnett County mother is charged with the murder of her child.
Johni Michelle Heuser, 25, is charged with first degree murder of 11-month-old Harmony Jade Creech. After issuing an Amber Alert and spending days searching for the baby, investigators found her remains in the attic of the family's Spring Lake home.
Heuser’s neighbors say her daughter Harmony's disappearance sounded fishy from the start. “Initially, I felt there was foul play involved but I felt also that it was someone they knew," said Stacie Siebert. "I felt it was an inside job from the beginning."
Johni Michelle Heuser, above, was charged with murdering her 11-month-old daughter.
Siebert says Harmony's death is shocking. She says finding out the missing girl was dead all along, during the extensive search for her, is mind boggling. “She could have stopped it at anytime," Siebert added.
The mother told officers Harmony was last seen sleeping in her crib on Thursday night. On Friday, she reported the girl missing. That is when county officials sounded an Amber Alert for the infant. But with no leads, local authorities brought the FBI and the National Missing Persons Bureau on board.
"Why lead not only state investigators but FBI investigators on a wild goose chase when you know exactly where the child is? That makes no sense to me,” said Siebert.
Harmony Jade Creech
Authorities say the child may have been in the attic as long as two weeks. “Michelle, the mother, who has told us the child died, and she found the child in the crib several weeks ago that she then concealed the child, she was in fear at that time,” said Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins.
But Siebert says Heuser should have handled her fears differently. If not for her sake, for her husband who returned home on Friday from a deployment to Iraq. “I don't think he deserve that, he was over there fighting for his country,” Siebert continued.
The cause of Harmony's death is not yet known. Heuser remains in the Harnett County Jail without bond.