Eric Warfel, 34, was charged with corpse abuse and held on a $1 million bond on Thursday in Ohio after a cable installer notified police after finding the decomposed body of 21-month-old Ember Warfel in a crib.
Warfel was arrested and taken into custody at a Westlake, Ohio shopping center where he was shopping with his 7-year-old daughter, according to Examiner.
While in custody, Warfel explained that when the infant died around June 18, he decided to not tell police or medical professionals - opting to hide her instead, hoping his family wouldn't find out. As the body started to decompose, he put trash bags inside the baby's room in order to mask the smell, NBC News reported.
Warfel told authorities that his ex-wife, the mother of his children, lives in New York with their eldest daughter.
The body was sent by authorities to the Cuyahoga County Coroner for an autopsy to determine a cause of death. Warfel was then charged with abused of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony, and held on a $1 million bond after the state expressed concerns he was a flight risk. Further charges are expected.
This bizzare case has left authorities wondering how an infant could go missing for over a month without anyone growing suspicious.
Warfel and his ex-wife allegedly lost another daughter in March 2013 whose death was listed as a "sudden unexplained infant death" with the manner undetermined, according to NBC's West Palm Beach Affiliate WPTV.
Medina police said that they will take another look at the case.
