GODS LAKE NARROWS, Man. — RCMP say they have arrested a man in the 2013 death of a girl who was brutally slain and left on a snowy trail in Gods Lake Narrows, Man.
Earlier this month Mounties issued a plea on social media for tips about 15-year-old Leah Anderson.
Staff-Sgt. Todd Doyle says major crime unit investigators arrested a 23-year-old man Wednesday in the remote community 550 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
The man has not been charged and his name has not been released.
Anderson's body was in such bad shape that it was initially thought she had been attacked by wolves or dogs, but eventually investigators concluded she had been viciously beaten.
RCMP asked volunteers to submit DNA samples, conducted interviews and even did lie detector tests, and one by one the suspects were ruled out.
"We put out a plea to the community in the hopes that we'd get to this point," Doyle said in a release.
"This arrest is significant. Investigators have been working since Jan. 6, 2013, to get justice for Leah. She was a young girl with a bright future, which was violently stolen from her. This is far from over, but this is a good day."
Earlier this month police said they had narrowed down the remaining suspects and determined that the killer was a male and known to Anderson.
Mounties have said the night she died started out as a typical one for the "bright, happy'' teenager.
"Hey hey hey, you you you, how are you?'' she kidded with a friend in her last post on Facebook.
She had planned to meet up with a friend to go skating but the plans fell through so she headed toward the rink by herself at 7:30 p.m.
"Somewhere between her door and the arena, Leah met her killer,'' said the RCMP.
"He brutally beat her and left her dead on a snowmobile/walking trail.''
Her remains were found two days later.
