A foster mother from Pennsylvania has been charged with crimes related to allegedly hiding the death of a 9-year-old girl in her care and abandoning her body in a tote bag next to a river as if she were trash, as detailed by law enforcement and the girl’s biological mother.

“Why would you place her in a tote, in a garbage bag, and discard her as if she was worthless?” questioned Christina Benedetto, the biological mother of Renesmay Eutsey, during an interview with local CBS station KDKA. “She held value, especially to us,” Benedetto expressed. “To us, she meant everything.”

Kourtney Eutsey, aged 31, is confronted with several charges, such as homicide, mishandling a corpse, and jeopardizing a child’s welfare, related to allegedly leaving Renesmay’s body on the riverbank of the Youghiogheny River in Fayette County, per the criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime on Thursday.

The young girl, under Eutsey’s guardianship since 2019, was reported missing on Wednesday, which led Pennsylvania State Police to initiate a search, authorities reported. Eutsey is identified as a blood relative who was also responsible for her own children—ages 7, 4, and 2—when Renesmay died.

As police officers prepared to investigate Eutsey’s residence for clues about Renesmay, a young child allegedly approached them, apologizing for not having previously told the truth about what purportedly happened to Renesmay, according to the affidavit.

“I’m never going to see my baby sister again because she’s in heaven,” the child told cops, alleging that Eutsey killed Renesmay and then put her body in a tote, per the affidavit.

The sibling claims to have “overheard” Eutsey talking with another adult about taking Renesmay to a river “far, far away,” according to the child. “[The child] stated that the only reason she came out of the room she was in was because she heard the victim screaming and crying and thought she needed help with something,” the affidavit says.

Eutsey and the adult were allegedly “yelling at the victim and kicked her in her stomach,” the affidavit alleges. The sibling reportedly told cops, “[Renesmay] is dead now. I’m never gonna see her again. I miss her. She probably is alive. She might be alive.”

Police asked the child what they were talking about, and they allegedly told investigators that she didn’t know what dying was until a family member told her. “When she saw the victim, her lips were white and looked like she was sleeping,” the affidavit says.

Renesmay weighed just 45 pounds when police found her Thursday, according to officials. Her body showed signs of abuse and neglect, as well as cigarette burns, including one that “might have become infected,” although the girl apparently never received medical treatment.

“Eutsey explained she was worried to call 911 and did not want to get into trouble due to the victim’s burn and how skinny she looked,” the affidavit alleges. “Eutsey placed the victim’s body into a black bag, which was then placed in a tote. The tote was carried to her vehicle (dark blue Kia Sorento, bearing Pennsylvania registration MSD3655). Eutsey drove to the Dawson area, then followed the river towards Perryopolis before stopping at a ‘pull off’ along the river. The victim’s body, in the black bag, was placed in the river, along the shore bank.”

Renesmay’s cause of death has not been released yet by local officials. Eutsey’s three biological children have since been removed from her home and are now under the care of another relative.