A 30-year-old man was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Mansfield in connection with the death of a 13-year-old girl who was found dead in an alley in Akron on June 12.
Keith Early was identified as a person of interest by Akron Police investigators, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to a news release from Akron Police. On Tuesday afternoon, investigators assisted by law enforcement partners, traced Early to Mansfield. He was taken into custody without incident.
Early was transported to Akron and booked into Summit County Jail on charges of abuse of a corpse, failure to report a crime and obstruction of official business, the release states.
Court records indicate that Early has not been arraigned yet in municipal or county court as of Friday morning.
Police said the investigation is ongoing, and detectives are still working to determine the exact circumstances of the teen’s death, and they are hoping to identify any other person or persons somehow involved.
The 13-year-old, identified by the medical examiner as Melanie Elkins, was found dead in Minordy Place, an alley near the 400 block of S. Arlington Street, on the afternoon of Monday, June 12.
Watch our initial report from June below:
Authorities said there are no apparent signs of trauma on the girl. They described the circumstances as a "sudden death."
Melanie was a student at East Middle School.
According to an Akron police report, the girl's father reported her missing the day before she was found. He said the family had issues lately, causing her to run away.
As of Friday, the medical examiner had still not ruled on Melanie's cause of death.
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