MUSKOGEE, OKLA. ? The tip that finally broke the “Precious Doe” case four years after the child’s headless body was found in Kansas City, Mo., came from a clever, older man who tricked the child’s mother into providing a hair sample, a community activist said Friday.

Police identified the child Thursday as Erica Michelle Marie Green, who was almost 4 when her body and severed head were found in a wooded area in south Kansas City in 2001.

Her mother, Michelle M. Johnson, 30, and the woman’s husband, Harrell Johnson, 25, both of Muskogee, have been charged with murder and endangering the welfare of a child. They waived extradition at a hearing Friday and agreed to be returned to Kansas City.

Alonzo Washington, a Kansas City community activist who championed efforts to identify the girl, was contacted by the tipster last weekend. He said the man, who does not want his name released, first contacted police nearly a year ago and gave them pertinent information about the case, but investigators did not believe him.

“He is very clever, but he is not the most articulate-sounding person and I think that made them dismiss him,” Washington said Friday. “They probably thought ‘This is some Okie from Muskogee and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”‘

Washington said the man was the grandfather of one of the people involved in the case. He called numerous times since July 2004, but his information was incomplete. Then, on April 29, “he called back with a lot more detailed information,” said Kansas City police spokesman Darrin Snap.

Kansas City Police Chief James Corwin praised his detectives.

“We work the lead till the end,” he said. “I mean that’s what we do: … We get a lead, we work it till the end and when it comes to a dead end and you stop, and some more information comes in and you work it again.”

Hair sample

The tipster called Washington on Saturday and later sent him a photo of Michelle Johnson and her children, including Erica Green. Taped to the back of the photograph was hair the man had convinced Johnson to give her.

Some hair came from a hair brush and some Johnson gave to the man after he told her he would put it in a Bible under the 23rd Psalm to bring her good luck, Washington said.

Washington got the photo and hair on Tuesday and provided it to police. Kansas City investigators then traveled to Muskogee to interview Michelle and Harrell Johnson. Harrell Johnson was already in jail on charges unrelated to the Precious Doe case.

Authorities said the little girl was killed in Kansas City, where the family had been staying with friends or family. According to court papers, Harrell Johnson hurt the girl one night in April 2001 and the couple left her unconscious on the floor for a day or two. They did not seek medical help, the mother said, because both had warrants out for their arrest.

The child died, and the couple carried the body to the woods, where the stepfather cut the girl’s head off with hedge clippers, police said.

Bogus tip

After the body was found, police knocked on doors in the area, including the house where the Johnsons were staying, police said Thursday. Michelle Johnson answered the door and gave an officer a bogus tip on a suspicious man she said had been wandering the neighborhood.

Michelle Johnson, who has convictions for theft and forgery, was in prison when she gave birth to Erica on May 15, 1997. Betty Brown, of Muskogee, took custody of the child until Johnson was released from prison.

Brown last saw the child in early April 2001, when Johnson said she wanted to take Erica with her for a few days to go to a family reunion.

“I wish this never happened to this baby,” Brown said Friday. “She didn’t deserve this. She was always so happy.

“It’s hard. It’s hard to think someboby could do that to a baby.”

A $33,000 reward was offered in the case, but Washington said the tipster was not influenced by the money.

“He said he just wanted to right a wrong,” Washington said.