Authorities in Alabama have confirmed that human remains discovered Monday in a wooded area belong to the stepdaughter of UFC heavyweight fighter Walt Harris.
The Auburn Police Department said Wednesday that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences confirmed the remains belong to 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard. The remains were found on a county road in neighboring Macon County.
Police said the teen’s disappearance is now a homicide investigation and additional charges will be filed.
Police arrested three people in the disappearance of the college student last month. Blanchard was last seen Oct. 23 in Auburn. After she disappeared, her black Honda CR-V was found abandoned more than 50 miles away at an apartment complex in Montgomery.
Auburn police detective Josh Mixon said that Blanchard’s blood was found in the car and that it appeared she had suffered a life-threatening injury. Mixon testified that convenience store video footage showed a man who was buying a beverage look over at Blanchard. He said tipsters later identified the man as Ibraheem Yazeed, 29, and a man at the store told investigators he saw Yazeed force Blanchard into her car and drive away.
Police arrested Yazeed and a second man, 35-year-old Antwain Shamar Fisher of Montgomery, on kidnapping charges in Blanchard’s disappearance. In an arrest warrant filed with the court Monday, police said Fisher helped Yazeed by disposing of evidence and driving him. Hughes said a third man, David Johnson, Jr., was arrested Monday in Montgomery and charged with hindering prosecution in the case.
The discovery of human remains came after a monthlong search for the missing teen whose face appears on billboards across the county.
Harris decided last not month not to compete against Alistair Overeem in the scheduled UFC Washington headliner Dec. 7 because of Blanchard’s disappearance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.