Body of missing girl, 15, found near road as mum's boyfriend arrested
The decomposed body of a 15-year-old missing for over a week has been found on the side of a road on top of a rural mountain.
The boyfriend of Riley Crossman’s mother has since been arrested after the teen was discovered on an embankment in West Virginia, US, Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer said during a news conference on Thursday (local time).
The Berkeley Springs High School student had been reported missing on May 8 by her mother after she failed to turn up for school.
Mr Bohrer said 41-year-old Andy J. McCauley Jr. was taken into custody hours after the body was found and charged with murder.
Mr Bohrer said McCauley had been a person of interest since the first day of the investigation.
Local news station WHSV reported that a sniffer dog had found a "deceased person odour" in the bed of a truck McCauley had been using.
McCauley was refused bond.
Tributes were paid to the teen at a prayer vigil on Thursday night at Berkeley Springs State Park.
“She was able to love, show compassion to kids, that I wish all students could do at her age when I had her in sixth grade,” her former teacher, Josh Rider said, according to Herald-Media.
“She was a sweetheart to me,” her friend, Elizabeth Tasker, told the Herald-Media.
“She always had a way… to put a smile on my face. I could tell her anything and she kept it between us.”
With Associated Press
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