Family of pregnant Georgia teen find daughter's body by tracking her phone
Police in north central Georgia are investigating the slaying of pregnant 16-year-old girl whose body was discovered by family in a wooded area this week.
Relatives found the teen dead early Monday morning in Loganville, a city about 35 miles east of Atlanta, and on Tuesday police said they arrested the girl's 17-year-old ex-boyfriend in connection to the case.
The Gwinnett County Police Department, the lead agency handing the case, identified the victim as Mia Campos.
According to police, at about 1 a.m. Monday, Campos's family called 911 to report finding her body in a rural, wooded area just off a roadway.
“I found my daughter laid face down,” said the teen’s father, Edward Campos told WANF-TV. “It was hard. I knew it was something wrong − her lips, her bleeding nose. They murdered my baby.”
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Family used cell phone to find pregnant teen Mia Campos
The family told arriving officers Campos left the house Sunday night with an unknown person, police wrote in a news release.
"When she did not return home, her family used a cell phone application to find her body," police wrote.
Based on the initial evidence discovered at the scene, investigators said they were unable to determine how Campos died.
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Autopsy found Mia Campos was slain
Detectives, crime scene investigators, and the county' medical examiner’s office responded to the scene and spoke with witnesses.
After an autopsy conducted Tuesday, a medical examiner determined Campos’ manner of death was a homicide.
Police did not say how the teen was killed and a motive in the homicide remains under investigation.
Mia Campos' ex-boyfriend arrested
On Wednesday, police said investigators arrested the ex-boyfriend of Campos for giving false statements to a police officer.
Police did not say whether he is the father of the victim's child or whether he is suspected in her killing.
USA TODAY is not naming the ex-boyfriend because he is a juvenile.
An online fundraiser created by the victim's mother', Miriam Zárate, to help with funeral expenses for her daughter and her grandson had raised more than $7,100 as of Thursday.
"Mia, my daughter, the girl of my eyes, my baby, has passed away with her son in her belly,“ Zárate wrote on the fundraising page. I ask God to watch over her and her baby. Now, she and my grandson are in heaven with God.”
USA TODAY has reached out to the victim's family and friends.
This case remained open and active on Thursday, police said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Gwinnett County police.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pregnant Georgia teen's body found by father; ex-boyfriend arrested
