The father of Opelika Baby Jane allegedly confessed to killing the child whose remains were found in a trailer park more than a decade ago, a detective testified Wednesday during his preliminary hearing.

Lamar Vickerstaff Jr., a career serviceman in the U.S. Navy arrested on felony murder charges in January, shortly after Opelika Baby Jane was identified as Amore Joveh Wiggins, waived his Miranda rights and admitted to killing his daughter, the detective said.

Vickertaff’s wife, Ruth Vickerstaff, who is not Amore’s mother, was charged with failure to report a missing child.

If she were still alive, Amore would be 17 years old today.

“He repeatedly said he did it, and he wanted his wife not to be charged, and that is what he was seeking in some sort of deal he wanted to make. He advised he traveled with her (Amore) from Virginia to Alabama, and he stated once he made it to Alabama, he drove around. He recalled placing her (Amore) where she was ultimately found. He did not give details as to how he did it, but he advised he did attempt to resuscitate her,” testified Opelika police Det. Alfred White, according to WRBL.

During his alleged confession, Vickerstaff maintained that he did not abuse his daughter.

White reportedly testified investigators determined some of Vickerstaff’s statements were credible but questioned some of the details he shared.

In January 2012, Opelika police responded to Brookhaven Trailer Park, located at 1775 Hurst St. in Opelika, on a report of skeletal remains being found.

A skull was located in the yard of a residence while the majority of the bones were located only a few feet into the wood line behind a trailer and the adjacent lot.

During the search of the area, a pink child’s shirt and a small bundle of curly hair were also recovered.

The remains were sent to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Va., where a medical examination was performed.

The report stated that the remains were of a Black female likely between 4 to 7 years old who became affectionately known to the community as Baby Jane Doe.

An autopsy was performed and showed fractures to her skull, arms, legs, shoulders, and ribs; totaling more than 15 individual fractures that were attributed to blunt force trauma, authorities said.

These injuries all had evidence of healing and occurred sometime prior to her death.

Additionally, the medical examiner suggested that Jane Doe may have been malnourished and blind in her left eye due to a fracture in her eye socket. Jane Doe’s death was determined to be a homicide and believed to have occurred between the summer of 2010 to 2011.

Since the discovery of Jane Doe’s remains, detectives have reviewed over 15,000 case files from the Alabama Department of Public Health and investigated thousands of tips.