( CNN ) -- Michigan authorities are investigating whether foul play led to the death of a 9-year-old quadriplegic girl whose body was found inside a public storage facility . Shylea Thomas , 9 , of Flint , Michigan , was quadriplegic and used a feeding tube . `` This is a very sad and tragic case that hurts all of us involved in the ongoing investigation , '' Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton said at a news conference Wednesday . Shylea Myza Thomas of Flint , Michigan , had n't been seen in six weeks , and relatives reported her missing Tuesday , Leyton 's office said . Her adoptive mother , who is also her aunt , is in custody as a suspect , special assistant prosecuting attorney John Potbury told CNN . No charges have been filed pending the results of the autopsy , he said . Because of her physical disabilities , Shylea used a feeding tube . She suffered from quadriplegia because of a `` suffocation issue '' in her crib at 3 weeks of age , Leyton said . On Wednesday , Flint police found her body stuffed inside a garbage bag in a public storage facility in Vienna Township , near Flint , Leyton said . The bag was covered in mothballs `` in an apparent attempt to mask odors from the dead body , '' his office said in a news release . `` For her to have to live like that , and then to die and be stuffed into a bag and plastic bin in a storage facility , just breaks my heart , '' the prosecutor said . CNN affiliate WJRT reported that the suspect could face charges including murder , first-degree child abuse and welfare fraud . The station also reported that investigators are trying to determine why the girl 's disappearance was n't reported until six weeks after she went missing . Relatives told WJRT that they remember Shylea as a happy child , who loved music and whose smile was infectious . Watch a family in shock » . `` The last memory I actually have of Shylea is seeing her when she was in my care , '' said her second cousin , Josette Thomas . `` She was on the bed listening to the radio and smiling . Those are actually the memories I want to keep in my head . I do n't want that memory to leave me . ''
NEW : Child 's adoptive father is in custody as a suspect , official says . Parents told police they had n't seen baby Thomas in weeks . Child had ` ` suffocation issue '' in infancy at 6 weeks of age , was quadriplegic . Child was found stuffed in trash bag , covered with mothballs .