Suspect arrested in connection to abduction, murder of North Carolina teen


A suspect has been arrested and charged with 10 felonies, including first-degree murder, in connection to the abduction and murder of North Carolina 13-year-old Hania Aguilar last month.
Michael McLellan, 34, is accused of kidnapping Aguilar from her driveway on Nov. 5, forcing her into an idling SUV that belonged to one of her family members. The stolen vehicle was found abandoned in nearby woods three days later, and Aguilar's body was discovered Nov. 27. An autopsy will be performed as part of the ongoing investigation.
Adding to the Aguilar family's anguish is a decision by the State Department to deny a temporary visa to Noé Aguilar, Hania's father, to travel from Guatemala for her funeral. "This hurts," he told CNN. "This is not a visa for sightseeing or staying in the country. I'm fine in my own country. I have work here. I only wanted a day or two to bury my daughter."
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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