Missing 9-year-old girl found dead, murder suspect appeared in court

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The Allen County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have released information on missing 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon.

Investigators revealed in a Monday evening press conference that the body of Lemmon was discovered after police interviewed the man she was staying with for the past week.

Police have arrested Michael Plumadore, 39, Fort Wayne, and charged him with murder. He appeared in court Tuesday morning for his initial hearing.  Plumadore was a friend of the family, according to police.

Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries said, “Unfortunately tonight, the search came to a conclusion we’d hoped wouldn’t happen. After three different interviews with one of the individuals involved, he was taken into custody tonight about 9 p.m. and charged with murder.”

Fries would only say her body was discovered in northern Allen County.

Lemmon was reported missing on Dec. 23 at 8:40 p.m. Investigators believe the crime occurred sometime before Friday evening.

Detectives and the FBI gathered enough information on the third interview, according to Fries. Enough information was gathered to bring officials to the conclusion of the investigation.

Fries would not disclose the motive for the killing, or the manner of death in Lemmon’s murder.

The Sheriff said Lemmon’s body was discovered shortly after the interview was conducted around 9 p.m. Monday evening.

Investigators do not believe any other individuals had knowledge as to what happened to Lemmon.

According to Allen County court records, Plumadore pled guilty to felony forgery in 2007 and had a felony count of auto theft dropped.

The incident remains under investigation.