THE mom of a missing toddler who cops claim was murdered and thrown in a dumpster could still walk free because investigators have not found the child’s body, a legal expert has warned.

Adrienne Reid, 33, was charged with murder and abuse of a corpse on what would have been the third birthday of her daughter, Genesis Nova Reid, earlier this month.

Genesis Reid’s mother reported that she had gone missing from their home on Apache Drive on February 16Credit: Enterprise Police Department
 

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Adrienne Reid, 33, was charged after being arrested in Coffee CountyCredit: Coffee County Sheriff’s Office
 

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A photo showing Casey Anthony and her daughter, Caylee Anthony, that was entered into evidence, is seen projected on a courtroom monitor during the Casey Anthony trialCredit: AP
Authorities allege she “willfully murdered Genesis, placed her in a duffle bag and discarded her in a dumpster.”

Investigators say surveillance footage shows Reid walking toward the apartment complex trash area with a rolling duffle bag on Christmas night last year.

Two days later, additional video allegedly captured the mom returning to the dumpster carrying toys and other items believed to belong to her two-year-old daughter.

James Tarbox, the district attorney for Coffee County, Alabama, said in a press conference that the evidence indicates Reid “killed her daughter, literally threw her in the trash.”

He also accused her of carrying out “a 53-day campaign of deceit, lies, manipulation, and destruction of evidence before she finally reported her missing on February 16.”

Authorities have been searching for the little girl for weeks and say they have narrowed down a possible search area, but her remains have not been found.

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor Richard Joseph Dreiling, now a criminal defense attorney with Dreiling Law APC, told The U.S. Sun that cases without a body are notoriously difficult to prosecute.

“No body murders are among the most difficult cases for a prosecutor to prove in criminal law,” he said

“Without a body there is no coroner’s report, and with no coroner’s report there is no definitive cause of death.

“The prosecution will have to lean heavily into circumstantial evidence to prove the case.

“Were there any prior acts of abuse against the child? How was she acting around the time of the child’s disappearance? Does any cell phone evidence point to guilt?

“This sort of circumstantial evidence will be crucial without a body.

“With no body, the defense may attempt to claim it was a third party, an accidental death, or any number of other possibilities to create reasonable doubt.

“Every case that doesn’t have a body can present significant issues for the prosecution, and it’s always possible those issues can result in someone being found not guilty, like the Casey Anthony case.”

Anthony was famously acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, in 2011.

Prosecutors in Orange County, Florida, argued she deliberately murdered her daughter, but her defense claimed Caylee had accidentally drowned in the family pool.

The jury ultimately found her not guilty of murder, a verdict that sparked nationwide outrage.

For years, Anthony kept a low profile, but has now launched a TikTok account and is a self-described “legal advocate” and researcher.

She has also started her own Substack, with subscriptions at $10 per month, as she dishes out legal advice.

Meanwhile, Dreiling said Reid could end up on death row if she is convicted of murdering her daughter.

He explained, “Alabama is very much a death penalty state — if they can show that she is guilty of the murder of a child, it will definitely be on the table.

“If the person has been missing for several months, decomposition will make it very difficult for any coroner to identify injuries or the cause of death.

“The prosecution will have to piece that together circumstantially by examining all other available evidence.

“There will be a major focus on digital forensic evidence. They will see if they can track the mom’s movements with her cell phone GPS data.

“They will look to see if they can recover deleted text messages or emails. And they’ll look for internet searches to see if they can find evidence that she was looking for how to dispose of a body.”

Reid said her daughter disappeared from their apartment in Enterprise, Alabama, near the Florida panhandle, at 3am on Monday, February 16.

The mom called cops and told them she found Genesis’ bed empty, and saw the front door to their unit was open, ABC affiliate WDHN reported.

However, neighbors later told authorities they hadn’t seen the toddler in weeks, with one person claiming they hadn’t laid eyes on her since Christmas.

It appears Reid’s mother, Vivienne, is standing by her daughter following her arrest.

Eagle-eyed viewers spotted her commenting on the live feed for the press conference as cops announced the charges this month.

In screenshots obtained by The U.S. Sun, Vivienne appears to use Facebook to comment underneath, “She’s [Genesis] not dead the human trafficking people took my baby just like they 2 other kids off Apache drive.”

She later supposedly added, “U don’t have no body.”

The U.S. Sun has made several attempts to contact Vivienne Reid for comment, but did not receive a response.

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Attorney Richard Joseph Dreiling says the prosecution has a battle on its handsCredit: Dreiling Law
 

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Police are still searching for Genesis Nova Reid, who they believe was killed and placed in a dumpsterCredit: Enterprise Police Department