Police charge associate in UNH coed's death

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DURHAM, N.H., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts coed's body has not been found but an acquaintance was arraigned in her death Monday, officials said.

Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott, 19, was last heard from Tuesday at her aunt and uncle's home where she was staying. Police said she sent a friend a text message saying she planned to visit a friend at her apartment that evening. The University of New Hampshire sophomore apparently never arrived, the Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., reported.

Police charged Seth J. Mazzaglia, 29, with second-degree murder, alleging in a court document he strangled or suffocated Marriott, and he was ordered held without bail at his arraignment pending a probably cause hearing set for Oct. 29. Police said a copy of their probable cause finding will be made available to Mazzaglia's lawyer, but won't be made public.

Investigators declined to elaborate on how Mazzaglia and Marriott knew each other. Mazzaglia lives on the same street as the friend Marriott said she planned to visit, the newspaper reported.

Police have continued to search for Marriott's body, emptying garbage bins on the UNH campus and organizing search parties to comb Peirce Island in Portsmouth, N.H.