Alaska man pleads guilty to sex abuse, murder of 10-year-old

KOTZEBUE, Alaska (TCD) --

A man pleaded guilty this week to sexually abusing and murdering a 10-year-old girl in 2018 whose body was found on a tundra miles away from where she was last seen.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Peter Vance Wilson pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. According to the Daily News, victim Ashley Johnson Barr was last seen on a playground on September 6, 2018. Her body was discovered eight days later.

According to the Daily News, her cause of death was asphyxia due to obstruction of her airway and constriction of her neck. Investigators also reportedly found evidence of sexual assault.

The Associated Press reports the tundra where she was found was only accessible by a four-wheeler car or by foot.

According to a statement by the State of Alaska Department of Law, Johnson Barr's father reported her missing at 12:30 a.m. on September 7 saying she had not been home yet. Her parents called her cell phone, and a relative reportedly found her phone in Wilson's coat pocket.

Alaska State Troopers led the investigation and were assisted by the Kotzebue Police Department and FBI. According to the Department of Law, investigators located Johnson Barr's body using cell phone signals from the time of the murder.

DNA evidence and video surveillance tied Wilson to the killing, and he ultimately confessed to killing the 10-year-old girl.

According to the Department of Law, Wilson will be sentenced to 198 years with 99 years suspended on September 21, 2021, per the terms of the plea agreement.

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