Deputies couldn't detain suspect in girl's death

(Jon Austria/The Daily Times via AP)


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SHIPROCK, N.M. (AP) — The Latest on the abduction and killing of an 11-year-old girl on the Navajo Nation (all times local):

6:35 p.m.

Sheriff's deputies in northwestern New Mexico had stopped a man charged in the kidnapping and death of a Navajo girl hours before he was arrested Tuesday.

But San Juan County sheriff's Lt. Kyle Lincoln says the deputies didn't detain Tom Begaye Jr. because he didn't completely fit the description of the suspect. Authorities had said the kidnapper had a teardrop tattoo under his left eye and two earrings, but Begaye had neither.

Lincoln says Begaye's van also wasn't a true match of the description.

Lincoln says Begaye let deputies search his van at a gas station in Farmington around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, but they didn't find anything suspicious.

Begaye was arrested later Tuesday in the death of 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike. He made his first appearance Wednesday before a federal magistrate in Farmington.

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1:10 p.m.

A woman who knew an 11-year-old Navajo girl and the man accused of kidnapping and killing the child says the suspect was active in cultural and religious life on the nation's largest American Indian reservation.

Sher Brown, of Lower Fruitland, New Mexico, says one of her brothers knew Tom Begaye, and they regularly went to sweat lodges and church meetings on the Navajo Nation.

The U.S. attorney's office in New Mexico says investigators found and arrested Begaye on Tuesday night at a sweat lodge outside Shiprock. Sweat lodges are considered sacred places.

Brown says she was shocked by the allegations.

She says victim Ashlynne Mike and her siblings would play at Brown's brother's house, where Brown remembers braiding the girl's hair. She described the girl as kind and obedient.

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11:15 a.m.

Authorities say an 11-year-old Navajo girl who was abducted from a school bus stop and killed was hit twice in the head with a tire iron.

A criminal complaint released Wednesday details how Ashlynne Mike died and a motive for the attack on the Navajo Nation.

Tom Begaye told investigators his motive was to have sex with the girl. He is facing murder and kidnapping charges and made his first court appearance Wednesday in Farmington, New Mexico.

According to the complaint, Begaye lured Ashlynne into a van Monday afternoon by offering to take her to a movie. Her younger brother joined her.

Begaye told investigators he drove the siblings out to a remote area along a dirt road. The brother later was freed.

Search crews found Ashlynne's body Tuesday morning.

Begaye doesn't yet have an attorney.

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10:45 a.m.

A man suspected in the death of an 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped from a school bus stop on the Navajo Nation is facing murder and kidnapping charges.

Tom Begaye made his first court appearance Wednesday in Farmington, New Mexico. The 27-year-old man shuffled into the courtroom in shackles but stayed quiet as some of the victim's relatives and other community members listened to the charges being read.

As he was taken away from the Municipal Courthouse in an SUV, people outside yelled profanity.

Federal authorities say he lured Ashlynne Mike into a van after she got off a school bus Monday afternoon. Her body was found Tuesday morning south of Shiprock, New Mexico.

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8:40 a.m.

New safety measures are taking hold on the Navajo Nation following the abduction and death of an 11-year-old girl.

Ashlynne Mike was lured into a van after getting off a school bus Monday afternoon and her body was found Tuesday morning south of Shiprock, New Mexico.

Tribal President Russell Begaye says children need to be taught about "the dangers of strangers" and that adults shouldn't let children out of their sight for extended periods of time.

The school district serving the rural area where the girl lived says students whose parents aren't present when the children are dropped off at bus stops will be taken back to the school.

The FBI says a 27-year-old man from nearby Waterflow has been arrested in the girl's abduction and death.

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8:30 a.m.

A 27-year-old New Mexico man arrested in the abduction and death of an 11-year-old girl on the Navajo Nation is expected to appear in court Wednesday.

The FBI says 27-year-old Tom Begaye of Waterflow, New Mexico, will appear before a federal magistrate in nearby Farmington.

Ashlynne Mike was abducted in the Fruitland area Monday afternoon, and searchers found her body Tuesday morning south of the monolithic rock that gives the community of Shiprock its name.

The girl and her 9-year-old brother were picked up by a man described as a stranger who lured them into a van by offering to take them to watch a movie.

The boy got away and was found by a passer-by.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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