A man has been arrested and charged for murdering an 11-year-old girl in DeKalb County, Alabama.
Sheriff Nick Welden said Amberly Alexis Barnett was found dead early Saturday after an overnight search took authorities into Georgia.
Family told WAFF that Amberly was last seen alive Friday evening at her aunt's home in Mt. Vernon. They left to go to the store and Amerbly stayed behind.
"Kid wanted to stay because like I said, she got Chinese, she wanted Chinese food, she got it. She wanted to stay home. It was cool," said Jessie Crane, who lives with the family. Less than an hour after they returned home, Amberly was gone.
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Christopher Wayne Madison, 33, was Amerbly's aunt's next door neighbor, and was home when everyone returned that night. Amberly was gone.
Cadaver dogs ultimately found her body in a wooded area about two hundred yards behind Madison's home Saturday morning.
Madison is facing Capitol Murder charges
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"The road to justice for this sweet, innocent little girl is too important to release anything to jeopardize this investigation," said Welden.
"I would like to thank our staff and all other departments that assisted on this case. This was a true joint effort, a team effort between multiple agencies who all worked tirelessly to help us get to this point."
Madison is being held without bond.
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