Columbia Police have arrested two people in connection to the remains of an infant found in 2019.

Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones announced on Tuesday that Staffone Fountain, 30, of St. Joseph, and Lavosha Daniels, 28, of St. Louis, are both in custody.

Fountain was arrested on charges of First Degree Murder and Abandonment of a Corpse.

Daniels was arrested for Abandonment of a Corpse and Child Endangerment.

They are the mother and father of Samone Daniels.

Police say the four- to five-month-old child's body was found behind McKnight Tire in the 1900 block of Providence Road on August 15, 2019.

Police now say Samone died in 2017.

On June 14, 2022, someone called the Columbia Police Department to report a letter found inside a wallet at a local hotel. According to court documents, two state identification cards were also found in the wallet.

Court documents said the letter was addressed to the Columbia Police Department and appeared to have been written by Lavosha Daniels.

The letter stated Daniels had come home after working a 12- hour shift doing construction at People Ready, fed her child, and went to bed.

According to court documents, the letter then read that when Daniels woke up, she found her daughter in an unusual position with a towel wrapped around her neck and blood coming from her mouth. According to letter, Fountain was with the child when Daniels was sleeping.

The letter said Fountain and Daniels performed CPR on the child. Court documents said Daniels then fled because "she was scared and didn't know what to do."

Fountain then put the baby's body in a book bag, which was placed at McKnight Tire, according to the letter.

Jones said the letter led police to Daniels and Fountain.

Chief Jones said this case had been important to their department and the detectives who investigated. "One of our Detectives said it best. Our number one goal was to give this child a name and honor her memory, and that has happened.

"The child’s name is Samone J. Daniels," said Jones. "We believe she was between four and five months old at the time of her death."

Jones also thanked the agencies who helped in the investigation, including the St. Louis Police Department, the St. Joseph Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Missouri Department of Social Services, Boone County Children’s Division, and the Boone County Prosecutor, and the forensic genealogists at Othram labs.