Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting and Murdering His Family Friend's 5-Year-Old Daughter
A 25-year-old man from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, was arrested Saturday after allegedly kidnapping, sexually assaulting, then strangling his family friend’s 5-year-old daughter to death.
According to People, Zachary Todd Anderson has been charged with second-degree intentional murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of kidnapping, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He has not requested a plea deal at this time.
According to the statement of probable cause released by the Cass County Attorney’s Office, the parents of Alayna Jeanne Ertl first discovered their daughter was missing early Saturday morning after putting her to bed the night before with her favorite Princess Elsa blanket. By around 8:30 a.m., both Ertl and her blanket were gone. The pair soon realized Ertl’s father’s truck was missing, as well, and Anderson, who had stayed at the house until at least 4:00 a.m., was nowhere to be found.
Matthew and Kayla Ertl quickly alerted police, and authorities issued an Amber Alert a few hours later. Shortly after, Anderson’s father called the Cass County Sheriff’s Office to report he believed his son might be who they were looking for. He explained Anderson had called and asked his permission to use the family cabin earlier that day, and that it might be where he had taken the girl.
Police rushed to the cabin and found the stolen truck parked nearby, “pulled into the ravine and into a brushy, wooded area in an apparent attempt to conceal its location.” Once they entered the home, they found what appeared to be a suicide note “with apparent blood on the upper corner” on the kitchen table, alongside a shotgun. Authorities later found Anderson “in a swampy area” nearby, standing “knee-deep” in water with “fresh lacerations to his left wrist.” While he, at first, denied knowing Ertl’s whereabouts, he later admitted he’d hidden her somewhere in the swamp.
Following what appeared to be a trail of “freshly trampled swamp grass,” police first discovered Ertl’s Frozen blanket before finding her naked body, completely submerged underwater, and hidden with some debris. Ertl was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later revealed her cause of death was strangulation, but that she’d also received blunt head trauma. There was also “evidence of sexual assault including sexual penetration.”
Anderson is currently being held at Crow Wing County Jail with bail set at $2 million.
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