A child's remains found in Arkansas last week were confirmed Monday to be those of 4-year-old Maleah Davis, the Harris County medical examiner's office said.
Maleah had been reported missing last month by the ex-fiance of her mother, 27-year-old Derion Vence.
Vence initially told police Maleah had been kidnapped by three men when he stopped to check on a flat tire on his way to the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
He said the men knocked him out and took his car before he came to along the side of a highway hours later.
Vence was charged with evidence tampering days after authorities found his car, saying that blood evidence at his apartment was linked to Maleah's disappearance.
Houston activist Quanell X said Friday that Vence confessed to him that he had accidentally killed Maleah and dumped her body in southwestern Arkansas.
Authorities found the remains of a child Friday in a black garbage bag in Hempstead County, Arkansas, about 20 miles northeast of Texarkana.
Michele Arnold, public information manager for the Harris County medical examiner's office, said the office had officially identified the remains' as those of Maleah on Monday morning.
She said the office was saddened by the discovery and was still working to determine the girl's cause and manner of death.
Vence remained in the Harris County jail Monday with bail set at $45,000 on the evidence tampering charge.
