Zahra's father cut up body, wife says

HICKORY, N.C., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Zahra Baker's stepmother accuses her husband of cutting up the North Carolina girl's body, court papers reveal.

The documents don't reveal how Zahra, 10, died or why her body was discarded.

Elisa Baker told authorities Zahra died Sept. 24 and she and Zahra's father, Adam Baker, disposed of body parts the next day in various locations, the documents reported by The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer state.

The date contradicts a man's recollection that he saw Zahra with her stepmother on Sept. 25 in his Hickory, N.C., furniture store, the newspaper said. She was not reported missing by her father until Oct. 9.

GPS cell phone records place Elisa Baker's phone, but not Adam Baker's, at the locations where body parts were found, the Observer reported.

Police have declared Zahra's death a homicide but have charged no one. Elisa Baker is in jail on a charge of obstructing justice for allegedly writing a fake ransom note.

More than 200 pages from some 30 search warrants were released Tuesday in response to a request by the Observer and other media.