Zachary Anderson, 25, a guest at the Ertl’s home, also vanished along with one of the family’s cars, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said.
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Investigators found Ertl Saturday evening about 80 miles north of her home in Cass County, near Anderson’s family cabin. Anderson was also arrested on the property without incident.
A preliminary autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner said Ertl died of “homicidal violence”.
Anderson of Monticello was held in jail without bail over the weekend in connection with the death of Alayna Ertl. He could appear in Cass County District Court as soon as Monday or Tuesday, the BCA said.
The suspect then gave authorities enough information for them to discover Ertl’s body in a swampy area, a few hundred yards from the cabin.
The crime is being investigated jointly by the Meeker and Cass County sheriff’s offices and the BCA. He had previously been at the Ertl residence and had stayed overnight previously, according to Cruze.
No further details about the girl’s death have been released.
Anderson occasionally stayed with the family, but was nowhere to be found when the search for little Alayna began, officials said.
The Amber alert put out by the Meeker County Sheriff.
The brown-eyed girl was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alayna’s disappearance led authorities to issue an Amber Alert.
Minnesota court records show only minor traffic violations.
Alayna’s father worked with Mr Anderson at Vanguard, a company that locates utility lines underground.
The sheriff said Alayna’s death was a blow to investigators.
“We have no known predatory sexual offender information on him or anything like that”, Cruze said. “We are at loss as to why this happened at this time”, Sheriff Cruze said. “I’m just sick about it, and I’m going to be sick about it and everybody I know is going to be sick about it for quite a while”. The friend says there was a softball game Friday night in Watkins, and since the suspect drinks at the softball games, he sometimes spends the night at Ertl’s house rather than drive home.
Alayna’s parents, Kayla and Matt Ertl, in a photo Matt Ertl posted on Facebook.
“They’re hurting. They’re hurting a lot”, Nett said.
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A GoFundMe page has also been set up for Alayna’s family to help “ease some of the … burdens they are experiencing”.
