Funeral set for Saturday for girl found in freezer
BRADENTON — Funeral services for an 11-year-old girl whose body was found in a relative's freezer have been scheduled.
Janiya Thomas' funeral will be Saturday. An obituary lists Oct. 18 as the day Janiya died. It's the same day her body was found in a padlocked freezer at her relatives' house.
Janiya was reported missing two days earlier by Manatee County Sheriff's Office child protective investigators after her mother refused to tell them or a judge anything about the girl's whereabouts or well-being. Investigators arrived at Thomas' home to remove her five children as part of a child abuse investigation involving Thomas' 12-year-old son, but only four were found.
The girl's body was not positively identified until a week after its discovery in the freezer.