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Missing 13-Year-Old Oregon Girl Found Dead Is Ruled Victim Of Homicide
Milana Li was reported missing by her mother on Monday afternoon. Her remains were found in a park the following day, and her death has been ruled a homicide.
Police are scrambling to identify the killer of a missing 13-year-old Oregon girl whose body turned up in a stream earlier this week.
Milana Li’s body was found in a small stream near a walking trail in Westside Linear Park, southwest of Portland, on the afternoon of May 10. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Beaverton Police Department.
The teenager’s death, which police first described as “suspicious,” was ruled a homicide following a preliminary autopsy, officials said. It’s unclear how long the teenager’s body may have been there or if she’d been dumped at the location.
No arrests have been made in the teen’s apparent slaying. Law enforcement also haven’t yet specified a possible motive or whether they’re actively investigating any suspects or persons of interest.
“Currently, investigators do not believe there is a continued threat to our community,” Beaverton Police Department said in a statement on May 11. “However, the Beaverton Police Department wants to stress that this is an ongoing criminal investigation.”
The 13-year-old’s mother reported Li missing on May 9. She was last seen at her apartment in the Murray Hill neighborhood by the intersection of Murray Blvd and Scholls Ferry Rd. around 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon — about a mile from the park in which her body was eventually found. In the hours following her disappearance, police suspected Li’s phone had been shut off, officials said.
Li’s death shocked Beaverton residents, a Portland suburb of nearly 100,000 people.
“When a 13-year-old is murdered in our community that’s obviously a tragic event that rocks our community and our police department,” Matt Henderson of the Beaverton Police Department said, according to KPTV. “And, I want our community to know that the full power of the Beaverton Police Department’s investigative staff is working this case. And we’re gonna find who did this to Milana.”
At the time of her disappearance, Li had been wearing plaid pajama pants with white writing on the side, a dark hooded sweatshirt and Converse shoes. Authorities further described Li as standing approximately five feet tall and weighing between 90 and 100 pounds. She had brown eyes and black hair that was dyed red.
Police said the 13-year-old was a fluent Russian speaker who struggled to communicate in English, her second language. Her mother told also investigators that her daughter wasn’t familiar with the surrounding Portland metropolitan area. Detectives had contacted “all known associates” of the 13-year-old prior to the discovery of her remains earlier this week.
Police, who are now combing through dozens of tips from the community, are hopeful one could lead to an arrest of Li’s killer.
No further information was released by authorities this week. A spokesperson for the Beaverton Police Department didn’t immediately respond to Oxygen.com’s request for comment on Thursday morning regarding the investigation.
Anyone with additional information pertaining to the open case is urged to contact Beaverton Police Department Detective Cindy Herring at 503-526-2280.
