A US high school student has been arrested after the body of his classmate was found buried in a shallow desert grave.
Kody Cree Patten, 18, a senior student at West Wendover High School, Nevada, was arrested in connection to the death of 16-year-old Micaela Constanzo, the Deseret News reports.
Micaela was last seen on CCTV leaving the school grounds on Thursday night after athletics training and was reported missing on Friday.
The teenager's body was found in a freshly dug hole on a rural road near the Utah border, about 8km west of the high school.
The discovery comes after more than 100 volunteers searched for her at the weekend.
Deputy principal Craig Kyllonen said the suspect was friends with Micaela and had dated her.
He said the student community was "extremely tight knit" and that her death has affected everyone.
"There are students throughout the school who are upset…They're tired. Emotionally, they're spent," Mr Kyllonen said.
"Knowing Micaela made you a better person than you would have been. She was the type of person you would want other kids to emulate."
Micaela was a member of athletics and girls' basketball team and was well-liked by her peers.
Deven Hamilton told KSL.com:"Micaela is one of the best students at school. Straight-A student."
Laura Botello said: " "It's so sad. Somebody like her — she was so sweet, like she would never do anything to anybody."
Kathy, one of her teachers told Fox13now.com: "Micaela was just an awesome person, just as beautiful on the inside as the outside. There are no negative words you could associate with Micaela. She was just positive, just good."
Police have not yet announced the cause of death.
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