MARTINSBURG, W.Va. —
A West Virginia man is accused of murdering his girlfriend’s 15-year-old daughter, law enforcement said.
Andy J. McCauley Jr. was arrested and charged in Riley Crossman’s murder, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department said.
Oakley went to the school around 5 p.m. to search for her daughter and, upon arrival, encountered Crossman’s boyfriend.
“He had not talked to her all day since he was at a field trip,” Oakley said.
After checking a few more areas of the school, Oakley went home to see if her daughter had returned.
“I went upstairs and walked in her room and she wasn’t there. I was mad and scared because, at that point, no one had heard from her. Then I got the call from the school saying she had been marked absent.”
That’s when Crossman’s parents called 911.
“…she would not run away,” Oakley said. “She loves us. She wouldn’t want us to be upset.”
“She wouldn’t just run off. She has never hurt anyone in her life. She’s very gentle,” Riley’s father, Lance Crossman, agreed.
McCauley has been a “person of interest since day one,” Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer said in a news conference Thursday.
Authorities believe they found Riley’s body Thursday morning. The body was found positioned over an embankment in a rural mountain road section of Tuscarora Pike near the mountain top, the statement said.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by The Journal, the charges against McCauley stem from: cadaver dogs finding evidence of a deceased body odor in the bed of the truck being used by McCauley and inconsistencies in McCauley’s story.
Also, dry wall mud splatter was located in the bed of the truck, as well as on Crossman’s body.
Crossman’s dance teacher Holli McCumbee told WDTV the girl had a radiant smile.
“She was a ray of sunshine,” said McCumbee. “She could walk into any room and smile and everybody would just smile. She was that kid.”
“She was one of those kids that was going to go somewhere,” she continued. “She had a very bright future. She could have done whatever she wanted.”
