COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The search for a missing South Carolina teenager ended Thursday when investigators found her body in Lexington County.
Sanaa Amenhotep, 15, was last seen leaving her home on April 5 with another girl and two teenage boys. Now, one of the boys has been arrested for kidnapping and deputies are searching for the other, WACH-TV reported.
“She wasn’t found like her family and this community and the sheriff’s department had wished,” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.
“I told the parents we would bring her home and we’ve done that. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring her home the way that we all prayed and wished that we could.”
Amenhotep’s family was heavily involved in the search to bring her home, even hosting a rally last week. They also put together a $10,000 reward in hopes someone would come forward with information about her disappearance.
“I know deputies and police officers aren’t supposed to get emotionally involved in cases, but there’s no way that when we work a case like this that our people don’t get emotionally attached to the case and then when you have an ending like this that it doesn’t affect them,” said Lott.
Lott said deputies believe the girl left voluntarily with the group to begin with, “but at that point once she was with them it then turned into a kidnapping.”
One of the suspects, a 17-year-old, faces charges of kidnapping and is being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. It was unknown if he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The other teen, 18-year-old Treveon Nelson, is expected to face the same charges upon his arrest.
Deputies said there is gang activity connected to the girl’s death but they wouldn’t provide any details.
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