Stepmother's Aunt: Zahra Baker Died of Natural Causes

RALEIGH — A relative of Zahra Baker's stepmother says the woman told her the little girl died of natural causes before being dismembered.

Boncetta “Buzzie” Winkler of Hickory told The Associated Press Wednesday that she visited her niece, Elisa Baker, in jail this week. The meeting was first reported by WSOC-TV in Charlotte.

Winkler says she was told that 10-year-old Zahra had been sick for two weeks before she died. Winkler says Elisa Baker told her that she and her husband panicked and dismembered the girl, scattering her body parts in various locations.

No one has been charged in Zahra's death. Elisa Baker is in jail on charges of obstructing the investigation.

Calls to lawyers in the case weren't immediately returned late Wednesday.