A Child's Remains Were Found Buried in Kansas Yard: Why a Mother Believes They're Her Young Daughter's

Police in Rose Hill, Kan., recovered the remains of a child after responding to a mental health crisis at a local residence

Authorities in Kansas say they found the remains of a child in a backyard earlier this month when they were responding to a mental health crisis at the residence. A local woman believes the remains belong to her young daughter.

Officers from the Rose Hill Police Department responded to a Rose Hill, Kan., home on Sept. 10, after being notified of a resident allegedly threatening self-harm, the department confirmed to PEOPLE.

"This person was barricaded within an interior room and it was believed they had a firearm," Chief Taylor Parlier said in a statement to PEOPLE. Police later learned the person did not have a firearm on them and after locating them, the individual was transported to a local hospital.

While officers were at the residence, they reportedly learned about a past homicide, the police statement said.

The following day, police discovered the remains of "a youth" in the backyard, with their state of decomposition suggesting that the remains have allegedly been there for "several years," Parlier said in the statement.

Now, a local woman is alleging the remains are those of one of her biological children who had been living at the residence, per KSN and Parlier. (Parlier reiterated on Monday, Sep. 23, there is no confirmation about the deceased child's identity).

Christa Helm told KSN that she is certain that the remains belong to one of her three children who were adopted five years ago.

Parlier confirmed to PEOPLE that Helm had three biological children in the home and that she had lost her parental rights "sometime earlier," but did not confirm the timeline.

While authorities have not identified the child, Helm started a GoFundMe for legal expenses to retrieve her two other children from the home, and identified the daughter she believes to be deceased as Natalie.

Helm told KSN that she gave up custody of her children in 2019 after struggling with substance abuse. She alleged the children were adopted by the residents at the Rose Hill home in 2019; Parlier could not confirm the details about an adoption with PEOPLE.

He said they are hopeful about getting the postmortem results by the end of this week, and that the results will determine the identification of the victim and the cause and time of death.

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Parlier said there are no ongoing missing persons cases in the area and thus there is no particular case they have linked to the remains found.

There are no persons of interest or suspect at this time, he said, as that would be "premature" to have before an identification is made.

"Until we get the forensic identification of the remains our investigation will remain broad," Parlier said in the statement. "Once we can identify the person who had been buried, we will have a clearer path forward in our investigation."

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