The parents of a missing child in California are still in mourning tonight after the body of their 8-year-old daughter was discovered in the trash earlier this week. Not long after they found the body, Santa Ana police placed the victim’s 15-year-old neighbor under arrest and may be their prime suspect. Find out why they took him in for questioning after the jump!
A 15-year-old boy was arrested as a suspect in the murder of a young girl who went missing in Santa Ana, California last Sunday. According to police, 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton voluntarily went inside the home of a teenage boy she knew before he allegedly killed her and hid her body in a recycling bin behind their apartment complex. At a press conference earlier today, Santa Cruz police Chief Kevin Vogel kept his report brief, but confirmed they may have a case against the suspect.
“We have evidence that ties our suspect to Maddy, but with respect to what that evidence actually is, I’m going to hold back on that information,” the chief told reporters.
Vogul also said that the young girl had a friendship to a degree with the suspect and that she “willingly accompanied him up to the apartment.” Although he declined to detail how the boy killed Middleton, he did say they believed she died around 6 PM, soon after they received the call that she was missing. According to investigators, Middleton died upstairs and was later dropped into the bin outside.
According to he boy was arrested at the scene directly after police found the girl’s body since the boy “was in the general proximity” of the recycling bin and was probably watching police search it. No charges have officially been filed as of yet. We’ll keep you updated as this story develops. Check out photos of the poor girl in the gallery.
