North Carolina father murders his six-year-old daughter after a custody dispute with his former wife

A North Carolina man has been arrested after he allegedly murdered his six-year-old daughter amid a bitter custody battle with his estranged wife.

Seth Willis Pickering, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lila Pickering.

Pickering was taken into custody around 7pm on Friday after authorities discovered his car parked on the side of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Police said they found Lila's body inside the vehicle.

Authorities have not yet released how Lila was killed.

Lila was placed in a home by child protective services as Pickering and his estranged wife Ashley, who lives in Florida, battled for custody.

Ashley Pickering said she had talked to a CPS worker just hours before Lila was killed and was told the little girl was 'happy and healthy and in a great home'.

'They were going to work on getting her back down (to Florida)', Ashley told the Asheville Citizen-Times.

But just hours later Ashley received a phone call at 2am from a police officer, informing her that Lila was dead.

'What they said to me just keeps playing in my head like a broken record,' the devastated mother said.

Lila was abducted from her foster home some time after she was picked up from school on Friday, Ashley told Fox Carolina.