An arrest has been made in connection to the death of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey, Sheriff Robert Hardwick of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
Aiden Fucci, 14, is in custody and is facing a second-degree murder charge.
A cause of death has not been released at this time. Hardwick confirmed that Tristyn’s body was found by a resident Sunday in a wooded area.
SJSO said Aiden attended Patriot Oaks Academy with Bailey but could not confirm if they were classmates.
After an hours-long search, police have located a body that they identified as Tristyn Bailey.
Tristyn Bailey went missing around 1 a.m. Sunday morning in the 700 block of North Durbin Parkway. Her family notified the police around 10 a.m. Sunday morning and police had been searching ever since.
The community gathered at Veterans Park around 4 p.m. to conduct their own search, desperate to find the missing victim.
Not too long after, the Crime Scene Unit arrived on the scene and the search was redirected to the nearby woods on Saddlestone Drive.
It was there that the body of Tristyn Bailey was discovered.
Police urge the community to respect the victim’s family in their time of grieving.
