Parents charged after dead girl found "concealed" in family's restaurant
NORTH CANTON, Ohio – A young northeast Ohio girl who had been reported missing by her parents Monday was found dead and “concealed” inside her family’s restaurant, reports CBS affiliate WOIO.
Five-year-old Ashley Zhao vanished Monday from the restaurant, Ang’s Asian Cuisine in North Canton. CBS affiliate WKBN reports her parents told police Ashley went to lay down in the back of the restaurant around 4 p.m. Her mother said when she went to check on her around 9 p.m., the child was gone.
Police: Ashley Zhao found dead. 2 squads at home of Ashley Zhao's relatives. Man here earlier today told me police told them not to speak. pic.twitter.com/9pWv8bz3zH
— Damon Maloney (@Dmaloneytv) January 10, 2017
The mother of Zhao has been charged with murder. The father has been charged with complicity in the case, WOIO reported.
Police initially said they believed she had wandered out of the eatery’s back door. An endangered missing child advisory that had been issued for the child amid a search has been canceled.
“I’ve never spoke to them, I’ve just seen her in passing,” said neighbor Treva Rohr. “It was sad, very very sad.”
WOIO reporter Damon Maloney tweeted that Jackson Police cruisers were seen parked Tuesday outside a home where Ashley’s relatives live.
The girl’s cause of death remains unclear.