Teen found in field was fatally stabbed, police say

CLARK COUNTY, Wash. - A medical examiner has determined that a 13-year-old girl whose body was discovered in an overgrown field near her Hazel Dell home was fatally stabbed, authorities said Monday. 

Clark County Sheriff's Office investigators believe Alycia D. Nipp was attacked over the weekend while taking a shortcut through the field to get home Saturday. Her stepfather discovered her body about 2:30 a.m. Sunday while out searching for the girl.

Police believe the Thomas Jefferson Middle School student was killed in one part of the large field and someone dragged her body about 100 yards to a wooded area and left it there. All of her clothing was found intact, the sheriff's office said Monday.

Authorities do not know why she was killed and believe it may have been a crime of opportunity perpetrated by a stranger.

Investigators are searching for a "person of interest" in the case who was seen in the field about the same time the girl started walking through it.

The sheriff's office described the person as in his 20s or 30s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing roughly 180 pounds with short hair. He was wearing a brown baseball cap, a green fleece long-sleeved shirt, jeans, gray sneakers and a brown backpack and had a silver mountain bike.

The sheriff's office said he did not appear to be a transient.

Anyone with information was asked to call a tipline at 1-877-274-6311.