BERKELEY SPRINGS — Authorities located the body of a missing Morgan County teenager Thursday and promptly charged the boyfriend of the girl’s mother with murder.
Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer announced the arrest of Andy McCauley Jr., 41. He was taken into custody by state police in Martinsburg hours after the body of 15-year-old Riley Crossman was found.
Officers from the Division of Natural Resources, assisting with the community-wide search, found Crossman’s decomposed body on an embankment near the 5500 block of Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County, about five miles from Interstate 81.
“The body was positioned over an embankment in a rural mountain road section of Tuscarora Pike near the mountain top,” Bohrer said.
Crossman was last seen in the early morning hours of May 8, and her mother reported the girl missing after learning she had not gone to school. Riley’s disappearance sparked volunteers to join the search Wednesday.
Bohrer said McCauley emerged as a person of interest early in the investigation and was being watched by police Thursday as.
“He was under surveillance at his job site in Berkeley County,” Bohrer said. “He agreed to come into the Martinsburg detachment of the West Virginia State Police to be spoken with. He was arrested there.”
While Crossman’s body requires a positive identification by the state Medical Examiner’s Office, Bohrer said he had no doubt it was missing girl.
“We’re very confident this is the body of Riley Crossman,” he said.
The sheriff declined to release more specifics about the ongoing probe.
An autopsy was scheduled for Friday morning at the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Charleston.
The community planned a candlelight vigil for Thursday night at Berkeley Springs State Park.
“Please keep the family of Riley Crossman in your hearts and in your prayers,” Bohrer said. “As you can imagine, this period of time has been extremely difficult for them. Extremely difficult to go to a family to give this news today. They are hurting, this community is hurting from this event.”
Colin McLaughlin contributed to this story.
