Authorities yesterday said DNA tests of a skull found by a hunter in North Carolina in April last year confirmed it to be Zahra’s. 

While a sad reminder of her horrifying death at the hands of her American-born stepmother Elisa Baker, Zahra’s Australian family will now have some peace of mind with her remains to be returned to them with the assistance of the Australian consulate. 

But it remains unclear if it will go to family in Wagga, including her mother, Emily Dietrich. 

Zahra – who had a prosthetic leg and hearing aids from a battle with cancer – was killed in her Hickory, North Carolina home in late 2010 with pieces of her dismembered body found dumped and buried in numerous bushland locations weeks later. 

In September 2011, Elisa Baker pleaded guilty to a charge of second degree murder confessing to desecrating and hiding her stepdaughter’s body and subjecting her to verbal, physical and psychological abuse. 

She was sentenced to 18 years in prison. 

The Daily Advertiser contacted members of Zahra’s family yesterday who declined to comment. 

In the wake of Zahra’s death her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in the Wagga area have been dealing with the loss in different ways. 

They have previously called for Zahra to be returned to the city, with her great uncle Darryl Ross saying the family would step in.

“She’ll be buried in Wagga where she belongs with family that loved her,” told The Daily Advertiser in February 2011.

Zahra was born in Wagga with her mother Emily Dietrich giving up custody of her daughter.  

She spent nine years trying to regain custody, only to discover her daughter’s whereabouts on the internet three days before Zahra was reported missing. 

Mr Baker met Zahra’s American-born stepmother Elisa Baker on the internet and married her in 2008, before the family moved to the US.