Stepfather Arrested For 2011 Murder Of Celina Cass In NH

STEWARTSTOWN, NH (CBS) – The former stepfather of Celina Cass has been arrested and charged with her murder in 2011.

Police say 52-year-old Wendell Noyes was arrested for second degree murder for the killing of the 11-year-old by submerging her body in the Connecticut River.

Cass was reported missing from her home in West Stewartstown, NH on July 26, 2011. Her body was found wrapped in a blanket six days later in the river about a half mile from her home.

Noyes was the person who reported her missing.

Investigators questioned Noyes after the murder, but he was uncooperative. Days later, he checked himself into a mental hospital.

Noyes will be arraigned on Tuesday.

Celina's paternal grandmother Marcia Laro told WBZ's Lauren Leamanczyk their family broke down when they learned the news someone had finally been arrested after all these years.

"Sort of weepy," Laro said. "Just a relief. Just to know that they arrested him and that they have been working on this case all this time."

The NH Attorney General's Office says the investigation into the murder remained active for the past five years.