Girl Heard Knock at Door. She Was Found Dead an Hour Later

Police have few clues in 'brutal' murder of 12-year-old Yhoana Arteaga
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 16, 2017 7:23 PM CDT
Updated Aug 17, 2017 1:07 AM CDT
Few Clues in 'Brutal' Murder of 12-Year-Old Girl
Yhoana Arteaga, 12, was found brutally murdered in her family's mobile home last Thursday in Tennessee. Police are still searching for leads.   (GoFundMe)

Police are begging for information from the public regarding the horrific murder of a 12-year-old girl in her family's mobile home last week in Tennessee. Fox 17 reports Yhoana Arteaga was on crutches and stuck at home in Goodlettsville last Thursday, having injured her leg in a skating accident the day before. According to WKRN, Yhoana's mother says her daughter texted her around 5:30pm to let her know someone was knocking on the door. She says she returned home from work a little over an hour later to find her daughter dead. Police, who are keeping some details private, say Yhoana died from blunt force trauma and her clothing "was in disarray," the Tennessean reports. "This is a horrible, brutal thing," Sgt. David Kautzman says. "I’ve never seen anything this brutal in my entire career."

So far, police have received fewer tips than is typical with this type of crime, and police have few leads. "We believe there are persons in this community who have knowledge of a person who may be responsible for this," police spokesperson Don Aaron says. "Please, for the family’s sake, for the sake of this 12-year-old deceased girl, let us know." Police say they believe Yhoana knew her killer, and they do have a number of persons of interest—though they are not identifying them. The family's home remains an active crime scene, and police are continuing to investigate. “This department is going to do everything we can, above and beyond, to make sure we find out who did this,” Kautzman says. (More child murder stories.)

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