IOWA CITY, Iowa — Human remains discovered in rural eastern Iowa have been identified as a 10-year-old girl who has been missing since last summer, police said Wednesday.
Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski said the remains are those of Breasia Terrell, a Davenport girl whose July 10 disappearance prompted an extensive search and investigation.
Sikorski said the news is heartbreaking for her family and the community and that it turns the investigation from a missing child to a homicide case.
Fishermen discovered Breasia’s remains in DeWitt in rural Clinton County earlier this month. Authorities said last week that they were working to identify them.
The FBI says she was last seen in the early hours of July 10 at a Davenport apartment complex, where she was staying the night with her half brother and his father, Henry Dinkins.
Police have not made any arrests related to the girl’s disappearance but have labeled Dinkins, 47, a person of interest.
Dinkins, who was convicted of a sex crime in 1990 when he was 17, has been charged with violating sex offender registry requirements by failing to update his address, and having contact with minors. A judge in December ruled that he violated the terms of his parole and ordered him to remain incarcerated.
Investigators have asked anyone with information about Dinkins’ whereabouts on July 9-10 to come forward, and have publicized photos of a maroon Chevy Impala and other vehicles associated with him.
The FBI had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the location of the girl or the arrest of anyone involved in her disappearance.
