Jackson police find body of missing teenager

Published 11:58 am Tuesday, September 2, 2014

JACKSON (AP) — Jackson police have found the body of a 17-year-old girl they say was kidnapped and shot.

Katelyn Beard’s body was found Tuesday morning in a rural area north of Jackson, shortly after police found some of her clothes.

Jackson Police Department spokeswoman Colendula Green says 19-year-old Dewayne Thompson was captured Monday and is charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping and auto theft. She says the aggravated assault charge will be upgraded.

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Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert on Sunday night for Beard.

Jackson police found her car, with a Greene County license plate, Monday morning in west Jackson, less than a mile from where she was taken. Thompson was arrested hours later after he was found in a vacant home nearby.

Green says Thompson helped in the search for Beard.