Investigators looking into the disappearance of 6-year-old Faye Marie Swetlik were led to the body of the young girl on Thursday after finding a “critical item of evidence” while searching through her dead neighbor’s trash, officials said at a press conference.

Cayce Department of Public Safety Sgt. Evan Antley said that Coty Scott Taylor, 30, has been linked to the homicide after he was found dead in his Churchill Heights home Thursday morning.

Police made the discovery shortly after they found evidence in his trash can that led them the young girl’s remains in a wooded area near her home on Londonderry Square.

VIDEO OF MISSING SOUTH CAROLINA GIRL GETTING OFF BUS RELEASE

"He was a neighbor, not a relative, not a friend, he was merely a neighbor that lived in the Churchill Heights community," Antley said.

He did not name Taylor as a person of interest or a suspect but did say that the item found in his trash was something that would have been listed on the missing person flyer created after she disappeared.

Officials did not give a cause of death pending an autopsy on Saturday.

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Faye was last seen getting off the school bus Monday afternoon. Her family discovered her missing about 3:45 p.m. and called 911 after looking for her for about an hour, authorities said.

Antley said the investigation is still open.