The Cole County Sheriff announced the prosecutor's formal charge Saturday morning at a press conference in St. Martins.

The suspect's age and their charge came with an equally strong bite.

As the days grew longer and the search efforts came up empty, everyone dreaded the news.

"We came into possession of some written documents, the results of those documents gave us a person of interest," Cole County Sheriff Greg White said. "After questioning that individual, we were taken to the sight where the body was found."

With Olten's body, came the formal charge from Juvenile Court Administrator Michael Couty.

"Alleging a 15-year-old committed an offensive murder in the first degree," Couty concluded.

Stringent Missouri juvenile laws protect most information in the case.

Details including the suspect's gender and any known relationship remains unknown.

Nearly 1,000 volunteers and officials aided in the search, but the dense woodland and hilly terrain complicated efforts.

"We had been through the area, actually more than once," White said. "The body was very well concealed."

The search headquarters now sits empty, but the family is full of gratitude.

"To know that others love and care and want to do whatever they can is very helpful to the family," Peggy Florence from Missouri Missing said.

Family and friend's cars lined up outside Olten's home to mourn.

Neighborhood sources tell us, Olten was playing at a house on Lo Mo Drive just down the street from her own home Wednesday night.

The short quarter mile trip is a straight shot home.

Unless the case is transferred to the adult court system, her final detour may never be known.

The Cole County medical examiner performed Olten's autopsy Saturday.

The autopsy results won't be available for a few weeks, pending the toxicology report.