Charges could range from felony murder to lesser charges, such as misdemeanour moving of a corpse.

The woman was arrested on Wednesday after police found Shylea Myza Thomas' body in a black trash bag, stuffed into a plastic bin with mothballs and locked in a storage unit near Flint.

Shylea had been taken out of school in January, and relatives told state officials they had not seen her in six weeks. At least one neighbour said she hadn't even been aware the little girl lived there.

Officials did not release the adoptive mother's name because no charges have been filed, but they said she was a blood relative of Shylea's who adopted her through the state.

Authorities were reviewing evidence and results from an autopsy before deciding on charges, prosecutor John Potbury said.

Prosecutors said relatives of the girl told workers with the state Human Services department on Tuesday that Shylea had not been seen in six weeks. Officials notified police, who learned late on Tuesday or early Wednesday that the girl was dead and her body hidden in a unit at Stor & Lock in Vienna Township, about 105 kilometres northwest of Detroit.

Police originally were given misinformation about Shylea after arriving at the home, Mr Potbury said. He didn't elaborate.

Shylea's family told authorities she had been paralysed since nearly suffocating in her crib as an infant, Mr Potbury said. She lived with several relatives in a Flint home that Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton described as 'absolutely filthy'. Shylea's home sits on a tough street with a number of abandoned and boarded-up houses.

Thomas Svitkovich, superintendent of Genesee Intermediate School District, said the girl had been a student at a special education school in the county but was withdrawn by her family Jan 22. He said he couldn't give any information on why she was taken out. -- AP