1:10 p.m.
Schoolmates
of an 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed on the Navajo
Nation this week are preparing to run roughly a mile in her honor as
part of the Shiprock Marathon.
School
and race officials say about 75 students from Ojo Amarillo Elementary
School will lead the first wave of 450 children in an honor run Friday
evening.
At the end, they'll release 500 yellow balloons. Yellow was one of fifth-grader Ashlynne Mike's favorite colors.
Authorities
say she was abducted Monday along her school bus route in an isolated,
agricultural community near Shiprock, New Mexico.
Her body was found the next day in the desert about 25 miles away. A 27-year-old man has been arrested in her death.
Local
school district spokesman James Preminger says last year, Ashlynne
participated in the run that's now being dedicated in her memory.
___
12:20 p.m.
Mourners
at the funeral of an 11-year-old Navajo girl who was abducted and
killed this week wept as a video played showing support for her from
across the country.
Images
of people releasing balloons, holding vigils and singing in remembrance
of Ashlynne Mike flashed on the screen in New Mexico's Farmington Civic
Center. Ashlynne was also shown playing the xylophone.
A headstone created for Ashlynne read "our little angel in heaven."
Some
1,600 people attended the service with speeches delivered in Navajo and
English and as many people waited outside watching it on monitors.
Ashlynne's parents and siblings sat on stage alongside local, state and tribal leaders.
A funeral escort to the burial site included dozens of motorcycle riders.
___
11:30 a.m.
The
family of a Navajo girl who was abducted this week on the reservation
criticized the delay in issuing an Amber Alert for her.
Older
siblings of 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike told a crowd gathered for her
funeral Friday that they wish the alert had gone out sooner. The
audience erupted into applause.
Authorities
were notified around 7 p.m. Monday that Ashlynne and a younger brother
were missing. Authorities say the two had been lured into a van by a man
offering to take them to a movie.
The brother was freed and showed up at the Shiprock police station around 7:15 p.m. and provided a description of the kidnapper.
An
Amber Alert was issued at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. Ashlynne's body was found
later that day south of the monolith known as Shiprock.
___
11:15 a.m.
New
Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez joined thousands of people Friday in
mourning a Navajo girl who was abducted and killed this week.
During
a funeral Friday, Martinez recalled Ashlynne Mike as a budding pianist
and xylophone player who wanted to share her musical talents with the
world. The 11-year-old girl was a fifth-grader at Ojo Amarillo
Elementary School.
Authorities
say she was killed after she and her brother were lured into a van near
their school bus stop Monday. Her brother was freed, but Ashlynne's
body was found near the Navajo Nation community of Shiprock the next
day.
Martinez
turned to Ashlynne's brother and thanked him for his braveness in
providing authorities a description of the kidnapper and said Ashlynne
would be proud.
Tom Begaye Jr. has been charged with murder and kidnapping in Ashlynne's death.
___
10 a.m.
Hundreds
of people lined up ahead of a planned funeral for an 11-year-old girl
who was abducted and killed on the Navajo Nation this week.
More
than 1,600 people were expected to pack the civic center in Farmington,
New Mexico, on Friday morning to pay homage to Ashlynne Mike, who was
abducted after school Monday. Her body was found a day later south of
Shiprock. Those waiting outside included families with children, many
wearing t-shirts that were yellow, the fifth-grader's favorite color.
Many of those waiting exchanged greetings, hugs and waves.
More
than 200 miles away, suspect Tom Begaye Jr. appeared before a federal
judge on murder and kidnapping charges in Albuquerque. He waived his
right to a preliminary and detention hearing. A judge ordered that he
remain in custody.
___
2:25 a.m.
Hundreds
of mourners will gather Friday to remember an 11-year-old girl who was
killed after being abducted along her school bus route on the Navajo
Nation.
The
funeral for Ashlynne Mike, a fifth-grader who lived with her father and
siblings near the eastern edge of the nation's largest American Indian
reservation, is set for Friday at 10 a.m. in Farmington, New Mexico. At
community gatherings in recent days, her family has remembered her as a
quiet girl who loved music and played the xylophone.
Her
death has led her tribal community to demand improvements in how law
enforcement responds to child abductions on the vast reservation.
More
than 200 miles away, suspect Tom Begaye will appear before a federal
judge on murder and kidnapping charges during a preliminary hearing in
Albuquerque.
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