PITTSBURGH -- A man was arraigned Wednesday morning in connection with the disappearance of a 3-year-old Pittsburgh girl in 1982.

Police said Timothy Wayne Widman, 51, was the live-in boyfriend of 3-year-old Nicole Lynn Bryner's mother.

At the time of her disappearance, Nicole's mother, Melody Thomas, said her daughter disappeared from a South Side grocery store.

Now, police say they have the real story -- that Nicole was murdered; struck in the back of the head by Widman, who hit the child after ,she bit him on the toe.

According to the criminal complaint, the homicide took place in the couple's South Side apartment and that 24 hours later, Widman put the child's body in a plastic bag, and drove her to a wooded area in Brookline, where he buried her.

It was the next day that Thomas reported her daughter missing.

According to a witness not named in the police criminal complaint, Widman struck Bryner in the head, knocking her to the floor on multiple occasions. Widman allegedly told the witness that the child was a problem and that she was in the way.

Channel 11 News learned that Thomas has since passed away.