Texas: 6-year-old sexually assaulted girl found hanged

CORSICANA, Texas — A 6-year-old Texas girl was found hanged in her garage Monday and police were investigating the case as a homicide

Hannah Mack was discovered Monday by her mother, Dana, hanging in the garage with a rope around her neck in Navarro Mills Lake, about 65 miles south of Dallas, and there were signs that she had been sexually abused, the station reported.

"I just touched her arm and I wanted to get her down so bad," Dana Mack told MyFOXDFW.com.

Police confirmed Wednesday the child was found hanged and sexually assaulted before she died.

Authorities have made no arrests or named any suspects since Hannah Mack's body was discovered. They are saying little about their investigation.

"I will confirm that the hanging and sexual assault were part of this scenario," Navarro County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Mike Cox said.

Cox said several people have been interviewed and no one has been ruled out as a suspect.

"We don't want to do anything that would compromise a successful prosecution of this case," Cox said Wednesday before abruptly ending a brief news conference.

Neighbors in the rural lakeside community in east Texas are frustrated by the silence so far and worry that a predator remains on the loose.

In a letter to the sheriff's department, Navarro County Judge Vicki Gray said an autopsy of the body showed "a multitude of events that together caused the death of this child." No other details were released.

The first-grader's body was found in a garage behind her home early Monday.

"I'm just concerned about the kids out there," said Harold Hocutt, 75, a neighbor who knows the girl's family. "Little girls. Little boys. It's just something you don't forget. Every time I drive by [Hannah's house], I cry."

Police asked state caseworkers to not say whether Hannah's family had been investigated by child welfare officers, said Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

"I wish I could punish this person myself," Dana Mack told MyFOXDFW.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.