SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – An 8-year-old California girl was lured into an apartment of a teenage boy she knew before he killed her there and hid her body in a recycling bin, police said Tuesday.
The body of Madyson Middleton, who was reported missing Sunday evening, was found Monday in a recycling bin at the Santa Cruz apartment complex where they both lived, Santa Cruz police Chief Kevin Vogel said.
The boy, a 15-year-old acquaintance of Madyson, was arrested on suspicion of murder, Vogel said.
She had last been seen riding a Razor scooter at the complex late Sunday afternoon, police said.
“She went there on her own volition as far as we can tell,” Vogel said. “I think she had a reasonable amount of trust in him. We don’t believe she was taken there against her will.”
Vogel declined to say how she was killed.
An autopsy has yet to be performed, [Vogel said.]
