Arizona Couple Charged After Firefighters Discover Girl's Remains Hidden in Their Attic for More Than Two Years

Firefighters found a young girl's bones in the attic of a burned home in Arizona—and they had been hidden there for more than two years, authorities said.

Rafael Loera, 56, and his wife Maribel Loera, 50, were arrested after the skeletal remains of the girl were found.

The Phoenix Fire Department responded to the home after the fire broke out on Tuesday, but homicide detectives were called to the scene when firefighters discovered human skeletal remains in the attic, Phoenix police said.

Phoenix police said the call about the fire had come just an hour after the Arizona Department of Child Safety removed two children—aged 4 and 9—from the home.

A week earlier, an 11-year-old girl who lived in the home had called police to say she was there alone. The girl told authorities that she had been home alone for two days and was hungry, according to the direct complaint filed by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office obtained by Newsweek. She said her foster mother, Maribel Loera, was in Minnesota with her siblings and her father, Rafael Loera, was also out of town.

Police found human feces throughout the residence and child safety officers removed the child from the home after discovering evidence of child abuse.

Police have now revealed the remains found in the attic last week belonged to a young girl who hasn't been seen since 2017, AZFamily.com reported. Rafael Loera identified the remains of the girl as the couple's adopted child Ana Loera, also known as Charisma Marquez.

He initially told police that the girl, who would be 13 now, had gone to Mexico and did not want to be contacted, but he later admitted the girl was dead, the complaint said.

He claimed Ana Loera had fallen ill in July 2017 and that he waited several days before taking her to hospital, but she died on the way there, according to the complaint.

"The child has been throwing up in the days leading up to her death and had what he described as convulsions before passing away," the complaint said.

Concerned the other children would be taken away, Loera said he returned home with the girl's corpse and neither he nor his wife reported her death. Instead, her body was wrapped in a sheet and put in the attic where it stayed while the family continued to reside at the home for another two years.

On January 28, shortly after the couple's other children were removed, Rafael Loera claimed he was "feeling hopeless" and removed the girl's bones and put them in the backyard before setting the house on fire.

Loera admitted that he had seen his wife abusing the girl before her death and said an autopsy of the bones would "probably" show injuries, the complaint said.

According to complaint, he admitted that he never made any attempt to contact police and knowingly left the child in a situation where she was in danger of being physically abused.

He said he and his wife adopted another young girl in the months after Ana Loera's death.

A spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department told Newsweek that the girl's identity and cause of death has yet not been determined.

"At this time the medical examiners office has not completed their investigation and the identity of the skeletal remains is unknown," the spokesperson said.

According to the police complaint, the 11-year-old girl told investigators that she had a sister who disappeared around two years ago.

The girl said her mother had told her that her sister was adopted and sent to live in Colombia—but her father had told her that she was adopted and sent to Mexico.

She also told police that her mother had struck her with knotted extension cords on several occasions. She said her mother had a "bad temper" and would strike her with objects and slam her head into walls.

NBC News reported that when firefighters first arrived at the scene, Rafael Loera told them the flames were contained to the fireplace and they didn't need to enter the property.

"Firefighters knew that was obviously not the case," Phoenix fire Captain Rob McDade told NBC News. McDade said that if they had arrived five minutes later, the entire house would have been destroyed.

He added that firefighters checked the attic after a fire department arson dog sniffed gasoline on the walls and floor. That's when they found the human bones, he said.

Rafael Loera was booked into jail on charges related to concealing a dead body, endangerment, child abuse and arson. Maribel Loera was also booked on charges of concealing a dead body and child abuse.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety has been contacted for comment.

This article has been updated with information from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.