LATEST INFORMATION: Two teens arrested for stabbing, bludgeoning, and burning of missing girl found dead in Columbia home
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities have confirmed that the body found while responding to a reported fire on Wednesday belongs to a teenager who was reported missing earlier this week. Police are treating her death as a suspected murder.
Coroner Naida Rutherford said 13-year-old Ka'Niyah Baker was found in a house in the 100 block of Cardamon Court on Wednesday. Columbia-Richland firefighters were responding to a reported structure fire at the home when they found her body.
“Any death is heartbreaking but it’s even more challenging to understand when it is a child," Rutherford said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends."
Rutherford said her office would be working with law enforcement and described the death as a homicide.
"There are no words that can help them understand that pain," Rutherford said. "No parent should have to bury a child, so understandably, her mom was very upset. So I did speak with the family. It's devastating, and they reacted in a way that you could feel their devastation."
An incident report from the Richland County Sheriff's Department states that deputies met with a person who said Ka'Niyah ran away between midnight and 6 a.m. on Monday. This person said Ka'Niyah had recently purchased a telephone, which may have been connected to her running away.
The department said Baker was last seen on Auburnleaf Drive in Hopkins on Monday, and they believed she may be in danger.
On Wednesday, the Columbia Police Department opened a suspicious death investigation into the Cardamon Court fire. A police report filed by the department described an investigation into potential arson and murder.
News19 previously reported Baker missing on July 3, 2024, in Sumter.
Anyone with information about the case or who may know Baker's friends or acquaintances should contact Columbia Police Criminal Investigations at 803-545-3518.