An Amber Alert was issued for Alayna Ertl on Saturday morning after her mother discovered she wasn't in her bed in their Watkins, Minnesota, home. Her family told officials she was last seen about 2 a.m. when the parents put her to bed.
Also missing from their home was a family friend — Zachary Anderson, who is now the primary suspect — along with a pickup truck belonging to the girl's father.
"Our suspect in this case is a family friend, co-worker of the victim's father, and was staying the night up in Watkins last night," Meeker County Sheriff Brian Cruze said Saturday, according to The Associated Press. "He had previously been to that residence and spent a night here and there — so he's not a stranger and not new to the residence, but was just there for the night."
Using the GPS on Ertl's father's cellphone, which was left in the truck, investigators were able to track the truck to another county in Minnesota. From there, the suspect's trail led them to a location about 80 miles from the family's home.
"When you look at other abduction cases, oftentimes the abduction will happen in one place, and the investigation will lead you elsewhere," Cruze said.
Investigators arrested Anderson and found the missing truck in the same county as Ertl's body. Police have not said how she died.
Anderson is in jail pending formal charges for kidnapping and premeditated first-degree murder.
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