A 14-year-old Indiana boy has been arrested in connection with the death of a 6-year-old girl whose body was found just hours after she was reported missing last week, authorities said.
Little Grace Ross disappeared around 6:30 p.m. on Friday in New Carlisle, a town about 1861 about 25 miles west of South Bend.
Her body was discovered two hours later in a wooded area not far from where she was missing, the South Bend Tribune reported.
The St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit said a 14-year-old suspect had been arrested. His name and details of the charges he will face have not been released.
A candlelight vigil for Ross was scheduled for Sunday night in a park in New Carlisle. The girl’s relatives also started a Facebook fundraiser to help with funeral expenses.
“My dear 6-year-old niece Grace Ross passed away yesterday. She’s an angel in heaven now, ‘wrote Nicole Ross on the fundraising page.
Neighbors in town were shocked by the tragedy.
“Right at your back door, you just don’t expect something like this to ever happen in your area,” Kim Huston, who has lived in New Carlisle for 40 years, told WSBT.
“It’s a small town and we don’t usually have much crime around at all,” she added.