Community Mourning Watkins Girl Found Dead In AMBER Alert
WATKINS, Minn. (WCCO) -- A community is mourning the loss of a 5-year-old girl whose body was found after an AMBER Alert prompted a state-wide search.
The Meeker County sheriff says investigators found Alayna Ertl's body in Cass County several hours after she was abducted from her home in Watkins early Saturday morning.
It is a 150-mile drive between where she went missing to where she was found.
Officers say 26-year-old Zach Anderson of Coon Rapids took the girl from the home where he was staying as a guest of her parents. Now Anderson is in custody awaiting murder charges.
For a town with only around 1,000 people, this summer they've seen immeasurable pain.
A tornado that ripped through a care facility and ousted dozens from their homes. And now this.
Little Alayna Ertl was taken in the night as her parents slept. Officers believe a family friend murdered her.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to donat e in Alayna's honor and help with funeral expenses.