Police find Jayde Kendall's body, arrest 18-year-old suspect
An 18-year-old has been arrested over the murder of Jayde Kendal, whose body was earlier found in a rural area west of Brisbane.
Kendall’s body was found at Upper Tenthill on Thursday afternoon. It was near Mount Sylvia and Allens Road, 14 kilometres south of Gatton. Her body was found after a member of the community had contacted Crime Stoppers and guided officers to the location.
Detective Acting Inspector Matt Howard said the privacy of the Kendall family should be respected. "I have spoken to Jayde's father and her extended family and as you can imagine, they are very upset to hear this news," ABC quoted the detective. "I would like to thank members of the community who contacted Crime Stoppers throughout this investigation."
The teenage boy, who had been arrested, was reported to be assisting with the investigation. The boy has been a person of interest in the case, according to Howard who said murder charges would be laid against him later on Thursday.
Howard said there was no evidence yet to prove if there was anyone else with the teenager. He said it had been “a very complex investigation.” “It's been very hard on investigators and obviously the family,” Howard said, "Obviously there's no winners in this investigation but we've ended up with a result, we've arrested a male person for the murder of Jayde."
The detective also said Kendall’s body had been at the location for some time even though it was not known yet exactly how long. The motive behind the murder is still unknown as the investigation continues.
Kendall disappeared after having been picked up from high school around 3:20 p.m. on Aug. 14. It was the teenage boy who picked up Kendall. The disappearance of the 16-year-old girl sparked a major police investigation.
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