MASHPEE, Mass. (AP) - A body found in Florida last week has been confirmed as that of a missing Massachusetts teenager who authorities suspect was kidnapped by a 37-year-old man who was shot and killed by law enforcement, officials said Friday.
The Saint Lucie County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed that the body found in a field off Interstate 95 in Fellsmere, Florida, is that of Jalajhia Finklea, 18, of Mashpee, according to a statement from Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III.
The autopsy determined that Finklea’s death was caused by two gunshot wounds and that the death was a homicide, he said.
Luis Zaragoza, the man wanted in connection with the disappearance of Finklea, died in Crestview, Florida on Nov. 5 when a U.S. Marshals Service task force trying to take him into custody fired on him when he fired at them, authorities said.
Finklea, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, had been missing since Oct. 20. She was last seen getting into Zaragoza’s rental car, Quinn said.
“This is a terrible tragedy for the family and my heart goes out to them,” Quinn said in the statement. “This brutal crime was clearly committed by somebody with a depraved mind.”
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