A 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with the kidnapping and subsequent murder of 8-year-old Maddy Middleton, who was found dead on Monday.
Maddy, who was taken whilst riding her scooter in the courtyard of her apartment block Sunday evening, was found dead in a nearby garbage area.
A boy who was arrested at the scene has since been charged for kidnapping, sexually abusing and then killing 8-year-old Maddy.
It is believed that Maddy knew her killer and went willingly with him.
“She knew him,” said Santa Cruz police chief Kevin Vogel said, “I think she had a reasonable amount of trust in him. We don’t think she was taken against her will.”
It is also believed that 15-year-old Adrian Jerry Gonzalez ‘laid in wait’ for Maddy, before luring her out and then kidnapping her.
He later attempted to conceal her body in a nearby recycling bin.
The alleged killer, Adrian Jerry Gonzalez.
After Maddy’s mother realised she was missing on Sunday night, police officers, emergency services, FBI agents and helicopter crews conducted a frantic search, which ended when they discovered her body on Monday night.
Gonzalez was arrested when police officers found him ‘stalking’ the search and watching from afar.
He has been charged with lying in wait, kidnapping, sexual abuse of a minor, and one count of murder.
15-year-old Gonzalez will be tried as an adult.
