Inset: Jessica M. Motes (Hall County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Sam's Club where a 4-year-old girl was allegedly found in the trunk of Motes' car (Google Maps).
A 36-year-old woman in Georgia has been arrested after authorities said they found the remains of a 4-year-old girl hidden in the trunk of her car after she allegedly told her father that she had "hurt" the child and believed she was dead.
Jessica Maria Motes was taken into custody over the weekend and charged with one count of concealing the death of a child, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit included in state warrant issued against Motes, her father told police that he spotted his daughter driving her Nissan sedan into the parking lot of an establishment in the 3000 block of Mundy Mill Road in Oakwood at about 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The address belongs to a Sam's Club that is about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Motes' father allegedly told police that when he spoke to his daughter, she made several incriminating statements. Such statements allegedly included Motes saying that she "hurt" the victim and then telling her father, "I think she is dead."
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The warrant states that Motes' father then drove her away from the parking lot and that they "later encountered law enforcement."
After Motes' father spoke with authorities, police responded to the parking lot. There, officers said they found "the remains" of the 4-year-old victim "in the trunk of the Nissan sedan," which is allegedly registered to Motes.
Authorities did not disclose the relationship between Motes and the unidentified 4-year-old victim.
Motes was taken into custody and booked into the Hall County Jail late Sunday evening. She is currently being held without bond, records show. It was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to appear in court.
Atlanta NBC affiliate WXIA reported that the Oakwood Police Department was the initial agency investigating the victim's death. Police then reportedly requested assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the Hall County Sheriff's Office.
The GBI and sheriff's office did not immediately respond to requests from Law&Crime for additional information regarding the investigation.