Mom and, boyfriend in North Carolina jail for 4-year-old's death

A couple accused of killing the woman's 4-year-old daughter and burying her in their backyard have been returned to North Carolina after five months on the run, authorities said Friday.

Olga Mendez, 25, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Kevin Videa, arrived Thursday from Longview, Texas, after their arrest there last month, Alexander County Sheriff's Office Capt. Keith Warren said. Both have been charged with murder and are being held without bond at the county jail.

They face murder charges in the death of Mendez's 4-year-old daughter, Brilly. Warren said the couple fled shortly before the girl's skeletal remains were found Oct. 24 buried in a shallow grave in the family's backyard. Preliminary autopsy findings show the girl died of head trauma.

The couple was tracked down after FBI and sheriff's office officials traced the phone calls they had been making.

Officials from the state's Division of Social Services began investigating the couple after being told the girl had been sent to live with a relative.

"They could not give information about the relative in terms of contact information," Warren said. "We attempted to locate the alleged relative, too, and were unsuccessful."

In October, with a search warrant and cadaver sniffing dogs in tow, officials combed the backyard of the couple's home west of Taylorsville, a rural area in western North Carolina where they had lived for about eight months. Forensic anthropologists are working to determine when the girl died.

Officials say the pair had other children living with them, but won't say how many because of the investigation. None was with the couple in Texas.

No attorney was listed for either Mendez or Videa on Friday. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance Monday.

It's only the second case in recent years in Alexander County in which a parent has faced a murder charge in the death of his or her own child.

An infant died at a local hospital in September 2007, and officials said the child's injuries were consistent with child abuse. Officials charged the infant's father, Sergio Hernandez, in connection with the death — but he also fled and hasn't been found by authorities.

"Normally, these types of things don't occur here that frequently," Warren said.