DENVER -- A court record obtained by The Denver Post reveals a prison inmate told Aurora police that the father of a missing girl and his girlfriend buried the child in a field after she died.

Aarone Thompson, 7, was reported missing by her father, Aaron Thompson, on Nov. 14. Three days later, police said that after they received a tip from a source "with very close ties to the family" they believed Aarone may have been dead for up to 18 months and considered the case a homicide. Thompson and his girlfriend, Shely Lowe, are considered "persons of interest" in the case, according to police.

The Denver Post reported in its Tuesday editions that the day after Aarone was reported missing, Lowe's ex-boyfriend and the father of two of her children, Eric Williams, told police the girl was already dead.

Williams said Lowe confessed to him that Aarone was bleeding from some type of injury in the bathtub when she stopped breathing. When she died, the girl was buried in a field by her father and his girlfriend, according to a police interview recounted in a court record obtained by The Post.

The court record does not say when the alleged conversation between Williams and Lowe took place. It said Lowe was "upset and crying" when she spoke with Williams.

Williams, 38, is in a state prison on drug and attempted escape charges.

Seven other children living with Thompson and Lowe have been placed in protective custody. The Post quoted other court documents as saying at least two of the children told authorities "the children were told by Ms. Lowe and Mr. Thompson to say that Aarone was in the home on Monday 11/14/05," the day she was reported missing.

The children were also told to describe what clothes Aarone was wearing, according to the report.

But when interviewed by authorities, according to the documents, the children said they had not seen Aarone since before her birthday in November 2004 and were told she had been taken to Michigan.

"There appears to be significant inconsistencies between the parents' stories and children's stories," the report stated.

Lowe and Thompson won't comment on the report.

Thompson and Lowe said last week they were innocent in the child's disappearance. Aarone has not been found and no arrests have been made.

The allegation is "certainly suspect, to say the least," said Sam Riddle, a family friend who has been acting as a spokesman for the couple. "This Aurora Police Department has been very sophisticated in creating a climate of guilt that looms over the heads of this couple."

Riddle said the he has suspected for a while that the police source was "someone who has been incarcerated."

Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates declined to discuss the revelations from the report.

"We're diligently investigating the case, and we're not going to comment on any aspect of the case," he told The Post.

David Lane said Monday that he is Aaron Thompson's new attorney. On Tuesday, Lowe retained noted defense attorney Walter Gerash.

Gerash told 7NEWS police officers are trying to taint a potential jury pool. He said he has advised her of her rights and accused the police of "trying to poison the atmosphere."

Gerash said Williams has no credibilty and is only looking for a plea deal to get out of prison.

"First of all, he was not a witness, this was a statement made ... I don't know who he is, or what, but anybody can say that somebody told me this or that," said Walter Gerash.

Gerash said the statement appeared to come from "juvenile procedures" that are secret.

"Police are doing what they should do. There is a missing child, they should try to find the child, find out the circumstances of her disappearance, whether or not she disappeared by criminal means," Gerash said. "I'm not decrying the police, but they should keep it to themselves. They don't need to hurt my client's name by making public juvenile procedures."

Citing the court document, the newspaper said Lowe once accused Williams of sexually abusing one of her children, but no charges were filed.

The newspaper identified the document only as a court record and did not say how it obtained it.