Authorities investigating the October 2009 disappearance of a Missouri girl had seized muddy clothes and shovels from the home of a neighboring teenager who later confessed to killing and burying the girl, according to secretly filed court documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The previously undisclosed details of the investigation — including that the teen's boyfriend was repeatedly questioned — were released Tuesday in response to an open-records request made by the AP. Alyssa Bustamante was sentenced last week to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the slaying of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten.
