Suspect Charged In The Kidnapping, Rape & Murder Of Hania Nicole Aguilar, 13

Michael Ray McLellan, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder and a string of sexual assault charges and is being held without bond.

December 10, 2018
Michael Ray McLellan [Robeson County Sheriff's Office]; Hania Noelia Aguilar [Federal Bureau of Investigation]

Michael Ray McLellan [Robeson County Sheriff's Office]; Hania Noelia Aguilar [Federal Bureau of Investigation]

Michael Ray McLellan [Robeson County Sheriff's Office]; Hania Noelia Aguilar [Federal Bureau of Investigation]

By: Catherine Townsend

Related To:

LUMBERTON, NC — The FBI and Lumberton police have made an arrest in the kidnapping and murder of 13-year-old Hania Noelia Aguilar in North Carolina.

Michael Ray McLellan, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder and a string of sexual assault charges and is being held without bond.

ABC 13 reports that these charges include first-degree forcible rape, statutory rape of a person under 15 years of age or younger, first-degree sexual offense, statutory sex offense with a person 15 years or younger, first-degree kidnapping, felony larceny, felony restraint, abduction of child, and concealment of a death.

Aguilar was abducted before school at her home at the Rosewood Mobile Home Park in Lumberton, North Carolina, on November 5.

She was standing in the driveway when a man wearing black with his face covered by a yellow bandana forced her into her aunt's SUV, which she had started for her family to drive her to school, and drove away.

The FBI later released video-surveillance footage a few days later that showed a man walking toward the mobile home park at around the same time the kidnapping occurred.

A body was discovered on November 27 in Robeson County, and after forensic testing, the FBI announced that they believed that it was Aguilar.

The agency also reportedly performed tests on the stolen SUV. It was preliminary results from the North Carolina State Crime Lab on the vehicle and on the body that led to the charges against McLellan, the FBI said in a news release.

Police have stated that McLellan was already in custody on unrelated charges. He is being held on no bond, and is expected to appear in court on Monday.

Read more: ABC 13

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