Authorities Report Grandmother’s Awareness of 9-Year-Old’s Abuse Prior to Tragic Death

The investigation into the tragic case of a 9-year-old girl, allegedly abused before being discarded in a tote bag by a Pennsylvania river, has widened, now involving more individuals suspected of criminal involvement.

According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, Theresa Marie Shipley, aged 63, and Sandra Lynn Umensetter, aged 51, have been charged with endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person. Additionally, Shipley faces charges related to failing to report suspected child abuse.

These charges arise from the ongoing inquiry into the death of Renesmay Eutsey. Shipley was the grandmother of the young girl, while Umensetter was identified as a family friend. Renesmay’s foster parents, Kourtney Eutsey, 31, and Sarah Shipley, 35, are facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the case.

Renesmay resided with her foster parents in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The child was reported missing on September 3, 2025, which triggered an extensive search by the Pennsylvania State Police.

During the investigation, as officers arrived to search the residence for clues about Renesmay’s whereabouts, a small child approached them, expressing remorse for not being truthful about the circumstances surrounding Renesmay’s disappearance, as detailed in an affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime.

“I’m never going to see my baby sister again because she’s in heaven,” the child told officers, alleging that Eutsey killed Renesmay and then put her body in a tote, per the affidavit.

A sibling claimed to have “overheard” Eutsey talking with another adult — later alleged to be Sarah Shipley — about taking Renesmay to a river “far, far away.”

Authorities added that “[The child] stated that the only reason she came out of the room she was in was because she heard the victim screaming and crying and thought she needed help with something.” Eutsey and Sarah Shipley were allegedly “yelling at the victim and kicked her in her stomach,” the affidavit alleges.

The sibling reportedly told investigators that “she saw the victim in a big, thick, black garbage, then inside of a dark-grey, “light-ish tote, that was broken on the side.” She added: “[Renesmay] is dead now. I’m never gonna see her again. I miss her.”

Investigators would end up finding the child’s body in a black bag inside a tote on the “shore bank” of the Youghiogheny River in Fayette County.

The Fayette County District Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday that prosecutors received the results of Renesmay’s autopsy on March 16, “which confirmed that Renesmay died of malnourishment and neglect; additional causes included blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso, and extremities.”

The statement went on: “The primary cause of death is identical to the alleged injuries against a 7-year-old victim who was hospitalized but survived.”

Prosecutors allege that cellphone records show Theresa Shipley and Umensetter were caring for Renesmay on “numerous” occasions in the months before the child’s death.

“In short, the children in the home were subjected to severe child abuse and neglect over a long period of time,” the DA’s office said. “These two defendants were present for it and supervised these children during the times they were severely abused; they did nothing to help them.”

Theresa Shipley and Umensetter were arrested and arraigned on Tuesday. They are set to return to court for preliminary hearings on April 29.

Kourtney Eutsey is set to go to trial on May 4; Sarah Shipley is scheduled to have a hearing in her case on June 11.