Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Runaway girl found in shallow grave identified

Click to enlarge photo

Anne Osburn

Click to enlarge photo

Gabriel Yates

The 17-year-old runaway girl found dead in a shallow grave in a remote desert area northwest of Las Vegas has been identified as Nichole Elizabeth Yegge, the Clark County Coroner's Office said today.

Yegge died of asphyxiation, the coroner's office said. She had no known address. Her 18th birthday would have been this coming Friday, the coroner's office said.

Metro Police arrested a man and a woman on charges of kidnapping and murder. Anne Osburn, 21, and Gabriel Yates, 31, both of Las Vegas, have been booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping, police said. They are being held without bail.

Homicide detectives said they received a tip on July 28 that a 17-year-old female had been killed. Their investigation led them to an apartment at the International Villas, 4630 Koval Lane in Las Vegas, where the victim had been living, police said.

Detectives tentatively identified the victim and learned she had been reported in May as a runaway who had not been seen for several days.

Detectives said their investigation led them to a remote desert area south of the Snow Mountain Paiute Indian Reservation, where they found Yegge's body in a shallow grave east of the intersection of U.S. 95 and State Route 157 (Kyle Canyon Road).

Officers are asking anyone with information to contact either the Homicide Section at 702-828-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

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