Mother's boyfriend, 41, is arrested for murdering a missing 15-year-old girl after cops followed him for a week before finding a body on a remote West Virginia mountain road

  • Riley Crossman vanished May 7 and grandmother last saw her before bed
  • She texted friends until midnight and tried to video call boyfriend around 5am 
  • Mother Chantel reported her missing May 8 after she didn't show at school 
  • Calls from her mother and father went direct to voicemail as they searched 
  • Cops then began watching mother's boyfriend 41-year-old Andy McCauley, Jr. 
  • K9 dogs traced the odor of a dead body to his green Dodge work truck which was gone for four hours and 40 minutes from his construction job on May 8
  • Wednesday group of 300 volunteers joined hunt with West Virginia-area agents
  • Thursday a decomposed body was found on Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County
  • McCauley admitted taking drugs and told cops he drove truck to meet dealers 

Police have arrested the boyfriend of a woman whose 15-year-old daughter they believe was murdered when she went missing 10 days ago in West Virginia.

They said they are 'very confident' decomposed remains discovered Thursday on a steep drop-off at North Mountain belong to the girl.

Riley Crossman vanished May 7 and law enforcement said the partner of the teen's mother, 41-year-old Andy J. McCauley, Jr., has been a 'suspect from day one' after K9 dogs traced the odor of a dead body to his construction site work truck.

Crossman's mother Chantel Oakley noticed she was missing May 8, after she learned she didn't attend Berkeley Springs High School the day after her maternal grandmother last saw her around 7pm.

Oakley has seen her 3.30pm that day when she arrived home from school to wake her up for work.

Riley Crossman vanished May 7 and was last seen going to bed at her West Virginia home

Riley Crossman vanished May 7 and was last seen going to bed at her West Virginia home

Cops then began watching mother's boyfriend 41-year-old Andy McCauley, Jr.
Crossman's mother reported the girl (pictured) vanished May 8

Crossman's mother reported the girl (picture right) vanished on May 8. Cops then began watching mother's boyfriend 41-year-old Andy McCauley, Jr. (left)

'I got home from work around 10pm. Her door was shut, so by all accounts she was in her room, but I didn’t actually see her,' Oakley told Dateline

She had reportedly texted her boyfriend Haydn at 10.30pm and friends until midnight. She then reportedly attempted to video call her boyfriend around 5.40am via Facebook Messenger on May 8. 

Oakley and the girl's father Lance Crossman said their calls went straight to voicemail that evening as they tried to find her. 

Crossman's boyfriend posted on Instagram a week ago: 'Doing everything I can to try and find her, I haven’t slept since she’s been missing and I physically cannot sleep or function without her I’m worse than ever right now and I need her to be here and safe.

'I can’t go any longer without her I just want her with me right now I’ve been worried to death and I just need something to make me feel better but she’s the only one who can do that.. I really hope you’re ok baby just please be safe.' 

Mother Chantel Oakley said she last saw her when her daughter came to wake her up May 7

Mother Chantel Oakley said she last saw her when her daughter came to wake her up May 7

She had reportedly texted her boyfriend Haydn at 10.30pm and friends until midnight
She then reportedly attempted to video call her boyfriend around 5.40am via Facebook Messenger on May 8

She had reportedly texted her boyfriend Haydn at 10.30pm and friends until midnight. She then reportedly attempted to video call her boyfriend around 5.40am via Facebook Messenger on May 8.

Police teams searched the area for her and said they were also looking for a possible suspect in the week following her disappearance.

Then on Wednesday a group of 300 volunteers began hunting in collaboration with agencies from Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia Natural Resources Police. A volunteer from the latter discovered a corpse on North Mountain at the 5500 block of Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County 'over an embankment in a rural mountain road section'.

While the body has not been identified as Crossman, cops do believe she is dead.

An autopsy will confirm whether it is the Berkeley Springs girl.

McCauley was taken into custody Thursday after being under surveillance at his job in Berkeley County since last week. He agreed to go to the station and was arrested there.

It was after K9 dogs followed the scent of a deceased person to his work truck. Drywall mud - who to repair holes - splattered in the bed of the truck underneath the utility box carried the scent.

The girl's body had drywall mud on the shoulder and foot. 

McCauley was taken into custody Thursday after being under surveillance at his job in Berkeley County since last week
He agreed to go to the station and was arrested there

McCauley was taken into custody Thursday after being under surveillance at his job in Berkeley County since last week. He agreed to go to the station and was arrested there

A social media image appears to show him holding mushrooms in his hand. He denied shooting up drugs when asked during an interview but later admitted he does

A social media image appears to show him holding mushrooms in his hand. He denied shooting up drugs when asked during an interview but later admitted he does

It was after K9 dogs followed the scent of a deceased person to his work truck
McCauley initially would not admit to driving a work truck but later told police he drove it to collect drugs from unknown people

It was after K9 dogs followed the scent of a deceased person to his work truck. McCauley initially would not admit to driving a work truck but later told police he drove it to collect drugs from unknown people

The truck was gone from 9am for four hours and 40 minutes the day Crossman disappeared, which contradicted his story of leaving for two hours. 

McCauley initially would not admit to driving a work truck but later told police he drove it to collect drugs from unknown people. 

A witness said they spotted the vehicle outside his Greenway Drive residence in Berkeley Springs around 10am. 

Surveillance video also showed his direction of travel was not consistent with his story but instead with a route on which the body was found if he had traveled from Berkeley Springs to Hedgesville.

A clip showed he traveled east in the green Dodge in the 8000 block of Apple Harvest Drive at 12.41pm but he claimed he drove east on the 9. 

ABC 8 reports a witness told troopers he had cocaine on him when he left the work site. He claimed he used the 9 to return to the site and shoot up cocaine with a needle.

He had denied shooting up drugs when asked in another interview, claiming he sniffs instead, but he later admitted he does. 

A social media image appears to show him holding mushrooms in his hand. 

It's not clear how long he has been dating Oakley but his Facebook profile states he has been in a relationship since 2004. 

Photographs hint they may have children with another woman.

Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer said they had no other reason to suspect others in the case of the missing teen. He alongside Chief John Walter, Deputy Luke Shambaugh, Cpl. Fred Edwards and Cpl. Janette See responded to the scene of the discovered remains.

McCauley is being held at Eastern Regional Jail. 

Wednesday group of 300 volunteers joined hunt with West Virginia-area agents
Thursday a decomposed body was found on Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County and cops believe it is Crossman

Wednesday a group of 300 volunteers joined the hunt with West Virginia-area agents. Thursday a decomposed body was found on Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County and cops believe it is Crossman

Former teacher who is a pastor, Josh Rider, said she was able to love and compassion to kids

Former teacher who is a pastor, Josh Rider, said she was able to love and compassion to kids

Police are waiting to find out the cause of death and how long the body had been there.  

Her school said it was providing counselors to help students process Crossman's disappearance and possible death.

Thursday evening also saw a prayer vigil take place at Berkeley Springs State Park.

'We wanted a better outcome,' Sheriff Bohrer said about locating the remains of who they believe is the Berkeley Springs High School girl. He said McCauley will be charged with murder.

A friend named Jada told LocalDVM.com: 'She posted online a bit about how she thinks that no one cared about her. So seeing all of this probably would have made her feel so cared about.' 

Her former teacher who is a pastor, Josh Rider, said at the gathering: 'She was able to love, show compassion to kids, that I wish all students could do at her age when I had her in sixth grade.

'We come today acknowledging that we have lost an individual that we loved, but we come together as a family, and as a community and we are binded together by the Lord and the love that we have for one another.' 

A GoFundMe page described Crossman as an 'exuberant, dependable' girl.

Buffy Ross lights a candle Thursday during a vigil at Berkeley Springs State Park

Buffy Ross lights a candle Thursday during a vigil at Berkeley Springs State Park

More than 300 people attended the vigil to remember Crossman on Thursday evening

More than 300 people attended the vigil to remember Crossman on Thursday evening

It said her father Lance Crossman and stepmother Jess have been positively humbled by the outpouring of love and support to help bring Riley home safely.

The page noted none of the family members had worked since the child vanished.

While they were not asking for monetary donations themselves, the family member who created the crowdfunding page wanted to raise money 'so that Riley can come home to her normal life, and so that her siblings in each household can live as normally as possible while they are exhausting all efforts to bring their big sister home'.

By Friday they had raised $3,845 of a $10,000 goal towards flyer printing, meals, fuel, postage and advertising fees.

If anyone has any information, please call the Morgan County Sheriff's Department at 304-258-1067.

If anyone has any information, call the Morgan County Sheriff's Department at 304-258-1067

If anyone has any information, call the Morgan County Sheriff's Department at 304-258-1067

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