Body of 11-month-old reported missing in North Carolina found in attic of mother's home

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina - The body of an 11-month-old girl reported missing after her soldier father returned from a deployment in Iraq was found in the attic of her home, authorities said.

Harmony Jude Creech apparently had been dead for weeks, Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said late Saturday night. Rollins said the child's mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, told investigators she had found the baby dead in its crib and put the body in the attic of her home.

Neighbors said they had been bothered by a foul smell for several weeks and that the smell only subsided recently when overnight temperatures dropped. Several neighbors said they had searched their yards for dead animals because of the smell.

Harmony's father, Ronald Earl Creech II, returned from a 15-month deployment in Iraq on Friday hoping to see his daughter. Harmony was born while he was overseas, police said.

Creech is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, which is based at Fort Bragg.

Rollins said Creech was picked up at Pope Air Force Base on Friday by his mother and driven to his daughter's home near Spring Lake. They awakened the baby's mother and found the baby missing.

An alert was issued after the baby was reported missing.

Rollins said investigators were still interviewing Heuser, and the investigation continues.

An autopsy will be performed on the child's body to determined how she died, police said.