Police in Santa Cruz, Calif., found a body they believe to be missing 8-year-old girl Madyson Middleton. A 15-year-old boy is under arrest. AP 
 
 This undated photo provided by the Santa Cruz Police Department shows Madyson "Maddy" Middleton from Santa Cruz, Calif. (Photo: Courtesy Santa Cruz Police Department via AP) 
 
 An 8-year-old Northern California girl was lured into the apartment of a 15-year-old neighbor before she was killed and her body dumped in a recycling bin at their complex, Santa Cruz police said Tuesday. 
 
 The unidentified teen knew Madyson Middleton and was near the bin when a detective found her body during a second search Monday evening, Police Chief Kevin Vogel said during an emotional news conference. The boy had reportedly helped look for her. 
 
 Her body was found just before 8 p.m. PT Monday at the Tannery Arts Center, a housing development for local artists where both lived. Known as Maddy, she was last seen by a security camera at 5:05 p.m. Sunday riding her scooter in the complex. 
 
 "It's my belief she was killed before we ever got the phone call" an hour later that she was missing, Vogel said at a news conference. He did not indicate how she died or whether she was sexually assaulted. Autopsy results were pending. 
 
 Vogel said the body had been concealed "in a way that was not obvious or readily apparent. If you just opened the top of the bin, you would not have seen the body." 
 
 The boy was arrested early Tuesday. Neighbors reported that his mother screamed in agony when her son was taken into custody. 
 
 The district attorney said the teen could be charged as an adult. 
 
 Vogel said it appears Maddy, who lived in the complex with her mother, 42-year-old Laura Jordan, was "lured to the apartment willingly" and murdered there. He described them as acquaintances. 
 
 "I think she had a reasonable amount of trust in him," he said. "I don’t think she was taken against her will.” 
 
 A Tannery resident described the suspect as "the nicest kid you can imagine," the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. 
 
 “Everyone has got to be in shock over this,” the unidentified artist said. 
 
 Mayor Don Lane called Tuesday "a day to honor Madyson and to offer our support.” 
 
 “Our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers go out to those close to Madyson who have been devastated by the loss of this very precious life,” he said at the news conference outside police headquarters. 
 
 Following Maddy's disappearance, police conducted door-to-door searches of the complex and nearby communities. Authorities searched in nearby woodlands, parks and along the San Lorenzo River. Helicopters, bicycle patrols, dogs and even boats aided the search. Middleton's father, Michael, spent much of Monday searching the streets with friends. 
 
 Jordan told the Sentinel on Monday that her daughter was waiting for a friend to finish a board game so they could play together, and rode her scooter under her friend's window. At 5:07 p.m., surveillance video shows Maddy riding near a cluster of metal mailboxes at the Tannery. It was the last time she was seen alive. 
 
 "I thought she was in the courtyard," Jordan said. "I thought she was in the bathroom, checked the art bar, then I started to going to every friend's house. Maybe she got bored waiting for her play date, maybe she found another friend. But we had no luck." 
 
 Contributing: John Bacon 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1MT7wne ||||| After leaving flowers at a memorial for Madyson Middleton in the Tannery Arts Center Tuesday morning, a young family shares a moment of reflection for the slain 8-year-old. (Dan Coyro -- Santa Cruz Sentinel) 
 
 SANTA CRUZ >> Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel said the teenager taken into custody Monday night in the disappearance of 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton lured her to his apartment, killed her and dumped her body in a recycling bin outside. 
 
 Vogel said the 15-year-old suspect was arrested early Tuesday morning on suspicion of Maddy’s homicide. He said the suspect knew Maddy because they both lived at the complex. 
 
 “She knew him. She was 8 years old. I think she had a reasonable amount of trust in him. I don’t think she was taken against her will,” Vogel said. 
 
 Maddy, who was expected to enter the fourth grade in the fall in Santa Cruz, was “lured to the suspect’s apartment willingly and murdered in the suspect’s apartment and transported to the recycling bin,” Vogel said. 
 
 “It’s my belief that she was killed before we got the phone call Sunday night,” he said. The 911 call about Maddy’s disappearance was placed at 6:08 p.m. Sunday, police said. 
 
 “This is heartbreaking,” Vogel said. 
 
 After a massive search that spanned miles, at least three Santa Cruz police detectives dug through a blue, cardboard recycling bin in a parking garage of the arts center about 7:50 p.m. Monday. They found Maddy’s body hidden just steps from where she was last spotted at the base of a red, four-story apartment complex where both she and the teen lived. 
 
 During the find, the teen suspect was standing outside the garage watching, said Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark. 
 
 People near the find screamed, according to witnesses. Police detained the teen, and members of his family including his mother, who had a confrontation with police, Clark said. 
 
 Police found some of Maddy’s belongings. Video evidence and witness statements also tie the teen to the homicide, Clark said. 
 
 Vogel said he didn’t know how close the two lived or how well they knew each other. 
 
 “They were acquaintances. I don’t know to what degree they were friends,” Vogel said. 
 
 The teen had been contacted by Santa Cruz police and the FBI either Sunday night or early Monday. The teen suspect also participated in the search for Maddy, according to a Tannery worker. 
 
 The teen remained in Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall on Tuesday, police said. 
 
 “Based on what we know at this point, there do appear to be charges that can be filed as an adult,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosell. 
 
 Police have declined to name the teen because he is a minor. 
 
 Advertisement 
 
 “When we started this investigation our hope and our prayers were that we would find Maddy alive. As time passed we realized we needed to shift to recovery and that we may not find Maddy alive,” Vogel said. 
 
 The body was discovered after law enforcement switched from a rescue mission to recovery and performed a more detailed search that included digging through trash and recycling bins. 
 
 Volunteers had opened the recycling bin before, volunteer leaders said, but police said the body was hidden so “if you just opened the bin, you wouldn’t have seen the body,” said Vogel. 
 
 The suspect 
 
 Police have not yet said what motivated the teen to kill an innocent girl who loved to ride her Razor Scooter, dance, swim and sing. Vogel said he didn’t know if the suspect suffered from a mental illness. 
 
 Tuesday morning, the Tannery Arts Center’s lofts, walkways and galleries were mostly quiet as mourners trickled in to offer flowers and candles for Maddy. 
 
 A 43-year-old Santa Cruz resident who asked not to be identified described the teenage suspect as “the nicest kid you can imagine.” 
 
 “Everyone has got to be in shock over this,” he said. 
 
 The teen was a yo-yo expert who was always around the studios helping out, training because he wanted to be a professional. He took a ceramics class at Santa Cruz High School. 
 
 “He was usually alone or with an adult. I never saw him with other kids,” the man said. 
 
 Kira Less, a single mother from Pleasure Point, was one of many people who left flowers, candles, stuffed animals and notes of sympathy at the Tannery at 1030 River St. 
 
 Less said she came to the Tannery because she wanted to “let the family know that the community is there for them.” 
 
 She said, “I knew she (Madyson) was still here, for some reason.” 
 
 Tuesday, Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane also offered his sympathy at a news conference outside the Santa Cruz police station. 
 
 “Our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers go out to those close to Madyson who have been devastated by the loss of this very precious life,” Lane said. “Today is a day to honor Madyson and to offer our support.” 
 
 According to Maddy’s mother, Maddy was last seen on a surveillance camera at 5:07 p.m. Sunday riding her scooter at the base of her apartment complex at 1040 River St.. 
 
 She was reported missing to police about an hour later, and dozens of people joined a search through the night along the San Lorenzo River, which is in a wooded area near the center. 
 
 The search 
 
 Monday, a CHP helicopter crew buzzed over Santa Cruz looking for Maddy, and hundreds of volunteers joined search and rescue teams from the Santa Cruz and San Mateo County sheriff’s offices. Maddy’s picture was posted on fliers and on social media. 
 
 FBI agents knocked on doors and searched rooms at the Tannery on Monday afternoon. 
 
 Maddy was born in November 2006 in Mountain View to Laura Jordan and Michel Middleton, according to a birth announcement. The pair were not married and Middleton has since married another woman. 
 
 Jordan told the Sentinel Monday that her daughter was vocal, artistic and active. Maddy was waiting for a friend to finish a board game with her mother on Sunday afternoon so she and her friend could play, Jordan said. 
 
 When Jordan realized her daughter was missing, she said her first thought was “What the hell happened? This is very out of character for her.” Developmentally, she’s getting more independent. We’re working on her independence and trust,” Jordan said Monday. 
 
 Jordan said her daughter was in third grade last school year but she and her daughter were sick and did not complete all the work for the year. It was unclear whether Maddy would repeat the grade, Jordan said. 
 
 “She likes to skate around. She loves to chase the boys. She loves playing with Littlest Pet Shop (toy animals), painting them, modifying them, making movies of them,” Jordan said Monday. 
 
 “She loves her dog, swimming, and she loves to dance and sing. She’s very artistic.” 
 
 Staff writer Ryan Masters contributed to this report.
– She trusted him. Police say an 8-year-old girl murdered in Santa Cruz, California, willingly went to the apartment of her teenage killer, reports USA Today. The unidentified 15-year-old suspect lives in the same complex and even helped in the search for Maddy Middleton. He was standing nearby when detectives found her body in a recycling bin, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel. “She knew him," says police chief Kevin Vogel. "She was 8 years old. I think she had a reasonable amount of trust in him. I don’t think she was taken against her will." Maddy was last seen on surveillance video riding her scooter about 5pm Sunday at the Tannery Arts Center, described as a housing complex for local artists. She lived there with her mom. About an hour later, she was reported missing to police. "It's my belief she was killed before we ever got the phone call," says Vogel, who provided no details on how she was killed. Autopsy results were pending, and the suspect may be charged as an adult.