ORANGE PARK, Fla. (AP) - A body found under trash in a landfill is that of 7-year-old Somer Thompson, a north Florida girl who vanished on her walk home from school, authorities said Thursday.
Clay County Sheriff's spokeswoman Mary Justino also said the girl's death was a homicide, though she did not elaborate.
Justino confirmed the identification hours after Sheriff Rick Breseler said clothing and a birthmark led authorities to believe they had found the missing girl.
An autopsy was being performed Thursday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Savannah after the body was found near the Florida state line.
Detectives spotted the legs first and found the body partially covered by garbage Wednesday in a Georgia landfill, after investigators followed garbage trucks leaving the neighborhood where the child disappeared Monday.