JACKSONVILLE. N.C. (WNCT) — The body found in a Pender County creek has been positively identified as Mariah Woods, according to the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office. 
 
 Authorities believed the body was that of the toddler’s but did not confirm it until Wednesday afternoon, as community members gathered at a public visitation. 
 
 The visitation is being held at the Jones Funeral Home in Jacksonville and is being held until 6 p.m. 
 
 A vigil for the three-year-old girl was held near her home Tuesday night, where organizer Linda Clendenin said she wants to remind people about the importance of speaking up for those who can’t. 
 
 “It just really, really resonated, and the sad part is that there are so many children out there that are missing and are exploited,” said Clendenin. “I said you know what, I am going to be an advocate and fill out the paperwork and do it because they need a voice. She needed a voice and she didn’t have one.” 
 
 People of all ages came together to pay their respects to young Mariah. 
 
 “Why did this have to happen to her?” said Kailei Sampson, 11. “Why did it happen to anyone?” 
 
 Some led songs during the vigil. 
 
 Others chose to speak, like Carol Peebles. 
 
 “So many people have taken this little girl in,” Peebles said, adding that she felt called to speak, saying Mariah belonged to everyone. “This could have been your own child. And this is like when little Mariah came up missing and people came out searching for her and when we found out what had happened to her it’s like your own child.” 
 
 The tone was somber and hearts were heavy. But weighing on the minds of many was the confusion to how this could happen. 
 
 “It’s unbelievable to see something like this,” said 18-year-old Khristopher Smith. 
 
 “How in God’s name if that baby is that precious to you do you allow someone to hurt your baby? I don’t understand,” Peebles added. 
 
 Through a message of hope and hundreds of teddy bears, this community is remembering Mariah as one of their own. Smith added, “Fly high and we just need justice to be done for what has happened to her.” 
 
 A second vigil is scheduled for Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Dawson Cabin Road and High Hill Road. 
 
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 Find 8News on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; send your news tips to iReport8@wric.com. ||||| FBI investigators recovered the remains of missing 3-year-old Jacksonville girl Mariah Kay Woods on Saturday, and her mother’s boyfriend has been charged in connection with her death. Now Child Protective Services documents allege that the boyfriend, Earl Kimrey, sexually abused the girl. 
 
 The remains were found on Dec. 2 – nearly a week after Mariah disappeared from her Jacksonville home. The Fayetteville Police Department dive team discovered the remains and they were sent to the state medical examiner for positive identification. The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the remains are Mariah on Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 Kimrey, 32, the live-in boyfriend of missing 3-year-old Mariah’s mother, Kristy Woods, was arrested Dec. 1 in connection with her death and charged with concealing a death, obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, felony larceny and possession of stolen property, according to arrest records. He appeared in court Monday, where his bond was upheld at $1.01 million. 
 
 So far, no one has been charged with killing Mariah as of Wednesday afternoon. 
 
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 In the unverified CPS documents, Mariah’s biological father, Alex Woods, outlined the reasons he is pursuing custody of Mariah’s two brothers, who are also his sons, according to multiple reports and first reported by The Jacksonville Daily News, which obtained photographs of the documents from Alex Woods. 
 
 Woods alleges that Kimrey sexually abused Mariah and physically abused the two boys, hitting them with a belt – one of them in the face, causing a nosebleed. 
 
 The documents indicate that there may be a reason to believe the brothers were exposed to “a substantial risk of physical injury or sexual abuse because of the parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker has created conditions likely to cause injury or abuse or has failed to provide, or is unable to provide, adequate supervision or protection. The respondent parents have a history of exposing the juveniles to adult situations and conversation during their ongoing custody battle.” 
 
 One of the brothers said their mother knew that Kimrey allegedly was sexually abusing Mariah, according to the documents, which say Kristy Woods “failed to protect juveniles from exposure to sexual abuse” and that Kimrey allegedly used illegal drugs. The two boys are now in the care of their maternal grandmother, the documenets said. 
 
 Kristy Woods was charged with misdemeanor simple assault and misdemeanor communicating threats in May 2016, but the charges were dismissed a month later. 
 
 The documents are a juvenile summons and notice of hearing and notes that the two boys have been placed in Department of Social Services custody temporarily, according to The Daily News. Woods and his ex-wife, Kristy, were scheduled to be in court over the custody of the boys Friday morning, where the court will decide if the allegations of abuse are accurate. If the court rules that the allegations are true, there will be another hearing to determine the fate of the brothers. 
 
 Officials have not said what led them to arrest Kimrey. 
 
 Kimrey is being held in the Onslow County Detention Center. He made his first court appearance Monday morning. 
 
 State arrest records show that Kimrey previously had been charged with larceny, assault, and drunk and disorderly conduct. Kimrey is originally from Mebane, his Facebook page says. He attended Orange High School in Hillsborough and Alamance Community College, according to the Facebook page. 
 
 Kristy Woods and Kimrey have a history with the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, including: Kimrey’s arrest in 2012; an assault of a juvenile at the home in 2016; property damage at the home in 2016; and communicated threats, neighborhood disputes and a “suspicious incident” involving Kimrey two days after Mariah was reported missing, according to county records. 
 
 Mariah was presumed dead based on evidence gathered throughout the weeklong investigation into her disappearance, according to the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office. In a news conference on Saturday, FBI officials called the search for Mariah “a homicide investigation.” 
 
 Mariah allegedly was abducted from a home in the 2400 block of Dawson Cabin Road in Jacksonville, according to an Amber Alert issued Monday, Nov. 27. She was last seen alive when her mother put her to bed about 11 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, according to the Charlotte Division of the FBI. 
 
 More than 225 members of 14 local, state and federal agencies have conducted nearly 100 interviews in the case and followed more than 140 leads. Among them are the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team and Team Adam from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 
 
 Officials said 730 volunteers participated in a search for Mariah on Friday. The search expanded from Onslow to Pender County after Kimrey was arrested. Investigators also sorted through 95,000 pounds of trash by hand, searching for items of interest, the sheriff’s office said. 
 
 Several items of interest were sent to FBI experts in Quantico, Va., for testing shortly before Kimrey was arrested and the remains were found. ||||| A man accused of dumping his girlfriend’s daughter in a creek sexually abused the 3-year-old before she died, according to court documents. 
 
 Earl Kimrey, who is accused of disposing of Mariah Woods’ body in Pender County, N.C., allegedly abused the toddler and her two brothers, according to court documents cited by the Jacksonville Daily News. 
 
 The toddler’s body, which was found in a muddy creek about 25 miles away from her home in Jacksonville, was positively identified on Wednesday more than a week after her mother, Kirsty Woods, first reported her missing on Nov. 27. 
 
 Mariah Woods, 3, was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend, Earl Kimrey, before she died. 
 
 Kimrey, who faces several charges including concealing of death and obstruction of justice, is being held on $1 million bond. He has not been charged with the toddler’s murder. 
 
 In documents provided by the children’s biological father Alex Woods, Kirsty Woods allegedly knew her live-in boyfriend was sexually abusing the 3-year-old girl. 
 
 Earl Kimrey, 32, was arrested and charged with concealing of death, bstruction of Justice, 2nd Degree Burglary, Felony Larceny, and Possession of Stolen Property. Kimrey is the boyfriend of the mother of 3-year-old Mariah Woods, who is believed to be dead. (Police Photo) 
 
 Kimrey also sexually abused Mariah Woods’ two brothers, beat them with a belt, and left one boy with a bloody nose when he hit him in the face, according to the documents. 
 
 Kirsty Woods said her boyfriend was the last to see Mariah Woods alive when the little girl woke up around midnight on Nov. 26. 
 
 Earl Kimrey, the live in boyfriend of the mother of Mariah Woods is seen at his first court appearance on Monday December 4, 2017. Kimrey is being charged in connection with the death of the 3-year-old. (WTVD) 
 
 The mother, who woke up the next morning to find Mariah missing from her bed, reported her daughter missing on Nov. 27. 
 
 An Amber Alert was issued, and investigators found Mariah’s body on Dec. 2 in a remote part of Pender County after an extensive search that involved hundreds of volunteers. 
 
 Volunteers arrive at Dawson Community Church to search for three-year-old Mariah Woods. (Gray Whitley/Sun Journal via AP) 
 
 Investigators have not disclosed how Mariah died, although an arrest warrant for Kimrey said he removed Mariah Woods’ body from the scene of her death, and “secretly disposed of the dead child’s body.�? 
 
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– Disturbing details have surfaced in the case of Mariah Woods, the North Carolina 3-year-old found dead days after she disappeared from her mother's home. According to court documents seen by the Jacksonville Daily News, Earl Kimrey, the mother's live-in boyfriend, was accused of sexually abusing the girl and beating her two brothers, ages 5 and 10. Alex Woods, Mariah's biological father, provided Child Protective Services documents that state one of the boys saw Kimrey abuse the girl. The boy allegedly told CPS that mother Kristy Woods knew about the abuse, as well as Kimrey's use of drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine. Kimrey was arrested Dec. 1 in connection with the disappearance and faces charges including concealing a death, although prosecutors have yet to accuse anybody of killing the girl, the News & Observer reports. According to court documents, the two boys were placed in the care of their maternal grandmother Nov. 27, the same day Mariah was reported missing. WRIC reports that authorities confirmed Wednesday that a body found in a creek Saturday is that of the toddler. Investigators haven't disclosed how she died, though the case has been described as a homicide investigation and arrest documents accuse Kimrey of secretly disposing of the body, the New York Daily News reports.