Police: Murdered teen girl met suspect on Facebook

WEST PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - New details are emerging in the gruesome murder of a teenage runaway who police say met her killer on social media.

23-year-old Cole Swaringer-Herring is accused of fatally stabbing a 15-year-old girl he met on Facebook before attempting to burn her body and leaving it in a pile of leaves.

The victim has been identified as Sabriyah McLean, of New Castle County.

On Tuesday around 10 a.m. officers were called to the 200 block of South 49th Street where they found McLean’s body in a pile of leaves in the rear of a building.

MORE: Man charged with murdering, burning woman in West Philadelphia

Authorities say McLean and Swaringer-Herring met on Facebook before the Delaware teen made her way to his apartment in West Philadelphia on Monday, just a day before she was found.

Investigators have not said how the teenager made her way to Philadelphia to meet Swaringer-Herring.

FOX 29 originally shared McLean’s photo in 2014 when Philadelphia Police reported the then 11-year-old went missing. She was later found safe after police say she was hiding from her parents.

Swaringer-Herring, who police say has a criminal history, was arrested and charged with murder, arson, abuse of a corpse and related offenses.

The investigation is active and ongoing with the Homicide Unit.