DURHAM, England, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A convicted sex offender has admitted dumping a teenage girl's body in a field, saying she suffocated when he tied her up, British police said Tuesday.
The 32-year-old man was stopped for traffic violations in County Durham near Sedgefield and then led police to Ashleigh Hall's body, The Independent reported.
Hall, 17, of Darlington told her parents Sunday she was spending the night with a friend. Investigators believe she then went to meet the man, who had befriended her on Facebook, where he was posing as a 16-year-old boy.
The man allegedly told police he bound Hall, gagged her and dumped her in the trunk of his car. He said when he opened the trunk she had suffocated.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Harker said the death is being investigated as a homicide, although the cause has not yet been determined and investigators do not yet know if the teen was sexually assaulted.
"This is a very tragic case. It came about from a strange set of circumstances," Harker said. "A man was arrested for minor traffic offenses who then told the police about the scene."
