16-Year-Old Charged in Alaska Teen's Murder

A 16-year-old has been charged with murder after remains were found in Palmer, Alaska, on Friday. Official identification of the body is pending, though authorities believe it is that of 16-year-old David Grunwald, who vanished after dropping off his girlfriend in Butte on Nov. 13. A day later, his Ford Bronco was found burned to its frame in Wasilla, about 21 miles from his girlfriend's home. Alaska State Troopers say remains likely to be David's were found not far from his girlfriend's home but in an opposite direction from where his vehicle was found. Erick Almandinger, 16, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and kidnapping, per the Alaska Dispatch News. "Others involved in this incident have been identified but have not been charged as of yet," police say.

Two days after her son vanished, Edith Grunwald said David had told his girlfriend "he was going to stop by a friend Erick's house on the way home," per KTUU. David's mom said she didn't know who Erick was—though both David and Erick reportedly attended Colony High School in Palmer—but suspected David had offered to give someone a ride. "Everything from the beginning had pointed to the same people," a private investigator working for the Grunwalds tells the Frontiersman. "I never, ever thought I would see such dark evil in small-town Alaska." Police remain on the lookout for surveillance video that may show David or his vehicle on Nov. 13. (In Tennessee, a teen is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend.)