Man finds 16-year-old niece dead in vacant field, California cops say. Teen arrested

A man searching for his 16-year-old niece found her dead in a vacant field, according to a California sheriff.

The man found his niece in a Covelo field on April 15 while looking for the teen who didn’t come home the night before, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said in an April 16 news release.

The sheriff’s office said it determined the teen had been with a 15-year-old girl the night of April 14. The Covelo teens knew each other.

The 15-year-old old girl is accused of physically assaulting the 16-year-old in the vacant field, according to deputies.

The sheriff’s office said it had “probable cause” to believe the teen’s “death was related to the physical assault.”

The 15-year-old was arrested on April 15 and is facing a murder charge, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies said they are still investigating the incident to determine what led to the physical assault and the 16-year-old’s cause of death.

An autopsy is pending, the sheriff’s office said.

Covelo is located east of Highway 101 about halfway between Santa Rosa and Eureka.

This story was originally published April 17, 2023 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Man finds 16-year-old niece dead in vacant field, California cops say. Teen arrested."

Daniella Segura

McClatchy DC

Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.