ONSLOW COUNTY, NC (WRAL/CNN) - A 32-year-old man pleaded not guilty to murdering the three-year-old daughter of his live-in girlfriend on Monday.
Authorities released the 911 call Earl Kimrey made in November alerting police the girl was missing.
The call to 911 sounds frantic. A man on the line said a little girl is missing from her bed.
Investigators believe the person on the phone, Kimrey, knew exactly what happened to 3-year-old Mariah Woods all along.
On that 911 call, made in November, he claimed to have searched all over the mobile home to find the toddler.
Kimrey said the pajamas she was wearing were by her bed.
"Everywhere, we went through the house two or three times - in the yard. It is not like her to go outside at all," he said.
That 911 call set off a dayslong search by authorities and volunteers.
A dive team would later find Mariah's body in Holly Shelter Creek in neighboring Pender County about 30 miles from her home.
Kimrey was charged with first-degree murder in the girl's death.
Recently released search warrants provide a peek into the case against him.
A day before that 911 call, the documents showed that a witness saw Kimrey place an object bigger than a book bag in a van.
Investigators said they seized duct tape, bleach, syringes, a shovel, pieces of carpet - even a portion of a bedroom wall.
There were also receipts for the purchase of trash cans.
Even while he pleaded with an operator in that 911 call, authorities said Kimrey knew what happened to Mariah.
Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty in the case.
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