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Search For Missing Florida Teen Tristyn Bailey Ends After Body Found, Teen Charged With Murder

JACKSONVILLE (CBSMiami/CNN) - The search for a missing north Florida teen was called off late Sunday afternoon after a body believed to be her was found.

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder in her death.

The St. Johns Co. Sheriff's Department said Sunday morning, around 10 a.m., the family of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey reported her missing. They said she has last seen around 1:15 a.m. at the Durbin Amenity Center.

A missing child alert was issued and at dawn, sheriff's deputies, friends, and neighbors began to search the area around the recreation center and a nearby veterans park.

Sheriff's officials called off the search shortly after 6 p.m.

"This was an exhaustive search by the neighborhood, by the St John's County Sheriff's office. We have located a body that is preliminarily identified as Tristyn Bailey," said St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick on Sunday night.

Hardwick said it hasn't been determined whether the teen will be charged as an adult.

(©2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company, contributed to this report.)

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