Sep 4, 2025 By Mike Jones 3 min read

A 9-year-old girl who was reported missing from her Dunbar home Wednesday afternoon was found dead in Westmoreland County, and her adoptive mother has been charged with killing her.

The body of Renesmay Eutsey was found partially submerged in the Youghiogheny River near Smithton about 2 a.m. Thursday nearly 14 hours after state police were alerted to her disappearance, Fayette County District Attorney Michael Aubele said.

The child’s adoptive mother, Kourtney Malinda Eutsey, and the woman’s partner had contacted state police shortly after noon Wednesday indicating the child had apparently wandered from their Third Street home in Dunbar Borough about 2 a.m. earlier that day.

However, as investigators interviewed Eutsey about the girl’s disappearance, certain aspects of the story did not coincide with evidence found at Renesmay’slast location, Aubele said.

“The information we were getting was not matching up with some of the things we were finding in surveillance (videos) and other investigative leads we had,” Aubele said. “We were eventually given the location of her body.”

Aubele said investigators think the girl was killed at her home, and then Eutsey transported her body to the Smithton area and disposed of it in the river. Aubele said investigators are not sure yet how Renesmay died, and an autopsy will be performed by the Westmoreland County coroner to determine the cause of her death.

Shortly after the couple alerted authorities to Renesmay’s disappearance, police fanned out across the Dunbar area searching for her. Search and rescue teams were called to the scene, and a command center was set up in Dunbar Borough to coordinate the search effort.

Aubele said they were initially told that the child may have wandered from the house, but authorities began to question that story when a search of the nearby woods came up with no results. Aubele added the girl had developmental issues and was apparently dressed in pajamas when the couple reported her missing.

“A child of that age and that development is going to be close. Maybe she had gotten out? Maybe she had run away? It just didn’t make sense,” Aubele said. “She’s 9 and she’s small for her age, and she has developmental disabilities. She was not going to leave the house that way.”

More evidence surfaced raising doubts about how Renesmay disappeared, Aubele said, and Eusey allegedly directed authorities to the child’s body as investigators continued to question her about the situation.

“While we had people looking for her, we were going through all of these (surveillance) cameras and doing interviews, and all of that stuff that led to (Eutsey) being charged,” he said.

Eutsey, 31, was arraigned Thursday morning on homicide and other charges and taken to the Fayette County jail without bond. Her partner has not been charged, although Aubele said the investigation is ongoing.