Body found near home of missing 8-year-old Arizona girl

[September 04, 2014]  By David Schwartz
 
 PHOENIX (Reuters) - Search teams looking for an 8-year-old girl reported missing on Tuesday from her bedroom in northwestern Arizona found a body near the family's home on Wednesday, but police said the remains were not immediately identified.

Bullhead City Police Chief Brian Williamson said the body was found at noon local time but he declined to say whether the remains belonged to a child, whether there was any sign of foul play, or in what condition the body was found.

He said it would be up to the county medical examiner to determine whether the body was that of the missing girl, Isabella Grogan-Cannella.

“At this time we cannot confirm this is Bella,” Williamson told reporters at a media conference, adding that an abduction had not been ruled out in the case.

Officers were called to the girl's home early on Tuesday after family members reported going to check on her in her bedroom and finding that she had vanished. Police said there was no sign of forced entry or a struggle.

Police said the mother told investigators that there was no reason for the girl to run away and that she would have told an adult if she was leaving.

The family is cooperating in the investigation, police spokeswoman Emily Fromelt said.

The body was discovered after police agencies from across the state and the FBI canvassed the area looking for the 4-foot-8-inch girl with shoulder-length, dark blonde hair and blue eyes.

Williamson said about 100 law enforcement personnel were assigned to the investigation.

(Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix; Editing by Steve Gorman and Paul Tait)

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