CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police in Hickory, N.C., announced Wednesday that DNA taken from bones found along a creek near Dudley Shoals Road matches a sample taken from personal items believed to belong to Zahra Baker.

Hickory Police say they’re still waiting on a DNA profile of Zahra that will be created from cheek swabs that have been collected from her parents, though police said Nov. 12 that they’ve collected enough physical evidence to believe that Zahra is dead.

The investigation into Zahra’s disappearance began Oct. 9, hours after the Hickory Fire Department responded to a fire in the Bakers’ backyard.

Later, Adam Baker, Zahra’s father, told police Zahra was missing. And police say Zahra’s stepmother, Elisa Baker, later confessed to writing a bogus ransom note. Elisa Baker has been charged with obstruction of justice and police say she is a person of interest in Zahra’s death.

For nearly a month, investigators searched in three counties for Zahra’s remains.

On Nov. 10, investigators found the remains of a child along a creek near Dudley Shoals Road, a site that is known as an illegal dumping spot for deer carcasses.

On Nov. 12, after more than a month of investigating, police said they had credible evidence that Zahra was dead, and that they had had unearthed remains of a child along Dudley Shoals Road.

Both Adam and Elisa Baker have denied any wrongdoing in the case.