A suspect has been arrested in the kidnapping and killing of Hania Aguilar, the 13-year-old girl who was abducted from her North Carolina home last month, the FBI announced Saturday.
Michael Ray McLellan, 34, was arrested in connection with the murder of the girl, according to the FBI and the Lumberton Police Department.
He has been charged with murder, forcible rape, kidnapping and sexual offense, all in the first-degree; he was also charged with statutory rape and sex offense, larceny, restrain, abduction of a child and concealment of death, authorities said.
McLellan was being held with no bond at Robeson County Detention Center, where he appeared before a state magistrate.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday at 9 a.m., according to the FBI.
Hania was abducted from the driveway of her Lumberton home on Nov. 5 when she went to start her aunt’s SUV before school, police said. That’s when a man dressed in black and wearing a yellow bandana covering his face forced her into the vehicle, authorities said.
The SUV was found three days later, and her body was recovered in a lake in Robeson County a few weeks later, authorities said.
Her funeral is scheduled to be held Saturday.
The FBI said its investigation is still active.
