Steve Burns
WMAL.com
FAIRFAX – (WMAL) Fairfax County Police announced Tuesday they have identified a person of interest in the death of 16-year-old Jholie Moussa, and that person is already in custody, charged with a prior assault against Moussa.
Police would only say the person is a 17-year-old from Alexandria.
Fairfax Police Maj. Rich Perez said the assault had gone unreported until it was uncovered in the investigation surrounding Moussa’s death.
“That individual, whose name is protected by law given that he is a minor, is a person of interest regarding Jholie’s death,” Perez told reporters.
Moussa’s body was found covered by leaves and debris in Woodlawn Park in Mount Vernon on Friday. Police said the park was about a mile from her house. Moussa was last seen leaving her house on January 12. Police said she left on her own volition, and was thus classified not as a missing juvenile, but as a missing runaway.
Perez defended the department’s actions, saying certain “standards” need to be met in order to begin a missing person investigation.
“We’ve got to meet certain criteria,” he said. “That’s not to say that we were not concerned for Jholie.”
Perez declined to provide other details, including when the alleged assault occurred, when Moussa was killed, and a cause of death.
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