RIVERDALE, Md. (AP) - A missing Maryland teen has been found dead in a Riverdale creek, where authorities say she beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed with a machete by teens involved with MS-13.
Prince George's County police tell news outlets that the teens were afraid 14-year-old Ariana Funes-Diaz would alert authorities about an earlier crime. The nature of that crime is unclear.
Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Hernandez-Nucamendi, 16-year-old Josue Fuentes-Ponce, and 17-year-old Joel Escobar have been arrested and charged as adults with first-degree murder. Police say Fuentes-Ponce and Escobar are MS-13 members, and Hernandez-Nucamendi had been reported missing.
Funes-Diaz's body was found Wednesday, about a month after she went missing. An autopsy determined she died of blunt force trauma. Authorities say they're working to identity a fourth person involved in the slaying.