Man indicted in 10-year-old Ore. homicide

COQUILLE, Ore. (AP) — A Coos County, Ore., grand jury has indicted a 28-year-old man on a murder charge in the death of Leah Freeman, killed a decade ago at the age of 15.

County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier says Nicholas McGuffin was arrested Monday and booked into the county jail on $2 million bail. McGuffin was Freeman’s boyfriend at the time she disappeared.

Frasier isn’t willing to discuss how the girl died, saying he hopes to have McGuffin tried in Coos County.

The teen was last seen on June 28, 2000, after leaving a girlfriend’s house at about 9 p.m. to walk home. Her body was found five weeks later.

Coos County authorities announced in January that they had appointed a “cold case” squad to investigate the death. In June, Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels said he was confident police had identified a suspect.

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Information from The (Coos Bay) World, The (Eugene) Register-Guard, The Oregonian.