Teen confession leads to arrests in Pennsylvania girl’s presumed murder

A child’s confession cracked open the disappearance of Renesmay Ann Eutsey, the 9-year-old Dunbar Borough girl whose case has now turned into a presumed murder investigation with four adults behind it. Police say the breakthrough came when a young sibling approached officers during the search, apologized for not telling the truth, and said, “I’m never going to see my baby sister again because she’s in heaven.”

Renesmay, born June 10, 2016, was reported missing from Fayette County on Sept. 3, 2025. Her body was later found on the shore bank of the Youghiogheny River inside a black bag placed in a tote, and the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office said it received her autopsy report on March 16, 2026. The report reportedly found she died of malnourishment and neglect, with blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso and extremities also listed.

Investigators say the child witness statement helped destroy the claim that Renesmay had simply run away, as caregivers had said. Court documents and testimony describe even darker allegations: another sibling allegedly overheard Kourtney Eutsey and Sarah Shipley talking about taking Renesmay to a river “far, far away,” and said they heard Renesmay screaming and crying before seeing Kourtney Eutsey and Sarah Shipley kick her. That account also says the child later saw Renesmay stuffed into a black garbage bag and then into a broken dark-gray tote.

Kourtney Eutsey, 31, and Sarah Shipley, 35, were already charged with first-degree murder. On April 21, 2026, prosecutors added charges against Theresa Marie Shipley, 63, Renesmay’s grandmother, and Sandra Lynn Umensetter, 51, a family friend, accusing them of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person. Theresa Marie Shipley was also charged as a person required to report suspected child abuse. Court records say Sarah Shipley was the court-ordered custodian and Kourtney Eutsey was the live-in caretaker in a relationship with Shipley.

Prosecutors said the children in the home were subjected to severe abuse and neglect over a long period, and that Renesmay’s death was “identical” to injuries suffered by a separate 7-year-old child who survived and was hospitalized. WTAE reported that 11 witnesses testified in Uniontown, the murder charges against Kourtney Eutsey and Sarah Shipley were upheld, and the newly charged defendants were being held on $100,000 bond each ahead of an April 29, 2026, preliminary hearing. Renesmay’s obituary remembered a child who loved unicorns, pink, playing outside and time with siblings, while community donations and a Lexi’s Lemonade fundraiser helped cover her funeral expenses.