Hania Aguilar: Suspect arrested in murder case of missing North Carolina teenager

Arrest comes after girl's father was denied visa entry to the US for her funeral

Hania Noelia Aguilar was kidnapped outside her North Carolina home in November and her body was found off a rural road following a three-week search (AP)

Police in North Carolina have arrested a man suspected of raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl who went missing more than a month ago, US media reported.

Hania Aguilar’s family has said that the girl was in her driveway, waiting to be driven to a school bus stop, when a man wearing all black and a yellow bandana around his face abducted her. He forced her into the family’s own car and drove away with her on November 5, they claim.

Police found the car abandoned only a few days later, and a body in a lake 10 miles away.

Weeks of investigation, hundreds of interviews, and surveillance footage from nearby homes finally yielded enough clues to make an arrest. The autopsy is not complete, but forensic testing confirmed that the body belonged to Hania.

Now, police have charged 34-year-old Michael McLellan with 10 felonies linked to Ms Aguilar’s disappearance and death, according to NBC News. Mr McLellan was already in police custody on unrelated charges.

The new charges include forcible rape, statutory rape, first-degree kidnapping, abduction of a child and concealment of death, according to an FBI press release. Additional charges may be filed, and Mr McLellan is scheduled to have his first court date on Monday, according to ABC News.

Upon hearing of Hania’s death, her father, who lives in Guatemala, reportedly went to the US embassy to request a visa to attend her funeral but was denied.

His lawyer claimed that Mr Aguilar would not have been denied under other administrations, and said he would try to cross into Mexico to ask for humanitarian parole, Time reported.

The funeral is due to take place at a nearby high school on Saturday, and then Hania will be buried at Meadowbrook Cemetery in Lumberton, North Carolina.