But three days later, Vickie King's search dog keyed in on Courtney Jo in a nearby cemetery. The girl was so tiny, King said later, she looked like a doll.

Police arrested Flemal six months later, and Shelly Flemal's story unraveled as details of her lifestyle and accounts of the days surrounding Courtney's disappearance came to light.

Almost immediately, police were suspicious.

Police found Shelly Flemal at a friend's house the night they found Courtney Jo's body. Police officers picked her up and took her to the Children's Justice Center in Ogden where they could talk privately. In the car, detective David Lucas told Shelly Flemal her daughter had been found.

"I'm sorry, but your child has been killed," Lucas told the woman.

"There really wasn't any response," Ogden police detective Shane Minor told the court during a hearing.

"She never asked how the child was, where the child was or whether (Courtney Jo) was dead or alive."

"Did you find that unusual?" prosecutor William Daines asked Minor.

"It's very unusual. It's the child's mother."

Today the case of Courtney Jo Flemal still angers the detective who spent more than a year on the case.

"It's a little baby," Minor said, looking over a box of records from the case. "You can't go away from something like this without taking some of it with you."

Looking back, there were numerous signs that the girl could have been in danger, but no one seemed to connect the dots.

Courtney's aunt, Jennifer Ross-Smith, told police later that when she would pick up the girl from her mother, she would have lice in her hair and bruises, plus the child was living in an unhealthy environment.

Brandy Ringo contacted police after Courtney Jo was reported missing and told police she was worried. Flemal was an "abusive mother," according to Ringo, who had witnessed Flemal smacking the child and sticking socks in her mouth to keep her quiet.

Just seven days before Courtney Jo disappeared, Shelly Flemal obtained a temporary restraining order against a boyfriend who sometimes slept at the apartment.

The Division of Child and Family Services had a long history with the Flemal case, too.

And then there was the abuse of Courtney's brother, Tyler.

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Question: OK. Now describe for the court how you would see — we're talking about a kid who was never with her after he turned 8 months old.

Answer: Right

Question: Describe how you would observe her slap him.

Answer: She would — it wasn't a full hand. She would take the tips of her finger and she would just draw back and just let loose across his cheek.