A jury that heard evidence in the lingering mystery surrounding missing Aurora girl Aarone Thompson found that her father "was responsible for serious bodily injury or (her) death."

The verdict was reached in April during a closed-door dependency and neglect trial in Arapahoe County.

The findings were first reported Thursday by 9News, which quoted a ruling issued by the state Court of Appeals last month.

The appellate court had been asked to review the decision to take custody of the remaining children away from Aaron Thompson, and his common-law wife, Shely Lowe. The ruling, released Feb. 8, upheld the verdict.

The finding enraged Aarone's mother. "He killed his own daughter," Lynette Thompson said from Detroit. "I'm very devastated. I'm just about in a rage."

Aaron Thompson called police Nov. 14, 2005, to say his daughter, then 6, had run away. Police called off the search after three days, saying Aarone may have been killed 18 months earlier.

The Arapahoe County Department of Human Services placed seven children remaining in the home in foster care. The couple subsequently gave birth to another daughter, also taken into protective custody.

According to the appellate court's Feb. 8 ruling, "the record contains sufficient competent evidence" that Aarone "went missing long before reported by the parents, that the parents were not forthcoming about the circumstances of her disappearance, that the parents did not want the children to talk to police, and that the child was probably deceased," 9News reported.

Lowe died of heart problems in May 2006, shortly after a grand jury began hearing testimony. That investigation is ongoing.

Attorney David Lane, who is representing Thompson in the criminal investigation, said the two matters are separate.

"One has no bearing on the other," said Lane, who noted that the burden of proof is much higher in criminal cases.

Aaron Thompson has not been charged with any crime.