Murder of Alayna Ertl

Alayna Ertl was a missing 5-year-old girl from Watkins, Minnesota who was later found murdered.[1] She went missing on Saturday, August 20, 2016, and was last seen alive around 2am Central Daylight Time, according to the Amber Alert that was issued for her.[2] When her parents woke up at 8am Saturday, they noted that their daughter, their pickup truck, and the house guest who had stayed with them overnight were gone.[3] After her parents reported her missing, her father's cell phone in the truck pinged a cell tower in Todd County, Minnesota giving a clue to where she might be.[4] Her body was located nine hours later in Cass county near the Wilderness Park [5] in a swampy area.[6]

Alayna Ertl
Born
Alayna Jeanne Ertl

(2010-10-31)October 31, 2010
DisappearedAugust 20, 2016
DiedAugust 20, 2016(2016-08-20) (aged 5)
Motley, Minnesota, U.S.
Cause of deathStrangulation and blunt-force trauma
NationalityAmerican

The overnight guest, Zachary Todd Anderson, a softball teammate of the girl's father, is believed to have stolen the family's white 2002 GMC Sierra pickup truck during the abduction. He was located in a secluded area around 4:20pm Central Time.[5] Police had tracked the vehicle to Anderson's family's cabin, which was unoccupied when they arrived.[7] When police located Anderson, he was standing knee-deep in a swamp behind the cabin with his wrists slashed. He eventually led them to Alayna's body, which was completely submerged under water. An autopsy found evidence of sexual assault, and determined the cause of death to be strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.[8]

On March 2, 2018, Anderson pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree murder while committing first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He received Minnesota's mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Amber Alert Poster: Alayna Ertl" (PDF). Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  2. "Amber Alert: 5-year-old girl from Watkins, MN". TEGNA. Kare 11. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  3. "Cass County Attorney's Office | Press Release" (PDF). startribune.com. August 23, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  4. "Body of 5-Year-Old Girl Abducted from Meeker County Recovered, Suspect Arrested". KSTP. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  5. "5-year-old girl reported missing found dead in Cass County". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  6. "5-year-old Alayna Ertl died of 'homicidal violence,' body found in 'swampy area'". August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  7. "Minnesota man arrested over kidnap, murder of co-worker's 5-year-old". NBC News. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  8. Unze, David (May 31, 2017). "Judge suppresses Ertl murder suspect's statement". St. Cloud Times.
  9. Baker, Clairissa (March 2, 2018). "Alayna Ertl's killer pleads guilty, gets life sentence". St. Cloud Times.
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