9/28/2012

Murder charge in missing student case

  • Christian Aguilar, 18, was last seen September 20 in Gainesville, Florida, police say
  • Pedro Bravo told investigators he got into a fight with Aguilar that night and left the scene
  • On Friday, police announced that Bravo had been charged with murder
  • The body of Aguilar, a University of Florida student, hasn't been recovered

(CNN) -- Police have charged an 18-year-old with murder in the case of a University of Florida student last seen eight days ago, a police spokesman said Friday.

Officer Ben Tobias announced that the Gainesville police department has charged Pedro Bravo with the murder of Christian Aguilar. He did not offer further details.

Bravo's attorney did not immediately respond to a request Friday evening for comment.

Aguilar was last seen about 6 p.m. September 20, according to a police statement. His body still hasn't been recovered, said Tobias, who urged the public to reach out to authorities with any information on the case.

"We would ... encourage property owners, residential or business, who may have lime rock roads on their property, that were accessible to the general public, to search those properties for any suspicious areas of ground that appear to have been disturbed," Tobias said. "We are also requesting information from anyone who may have seen a suspicious vehicle, likened to a Blue Chevy Blazer, in any remote areas on the night of Thursday, September 20."

Bravo told investigators that he'd gotten into "an altercation with Aguilar" on the night the college student went missing, police said. Bravo then left Aguilar in a parking lot in the central Florida city, prompting police to warn that Aguilar may be disoriented and/or seriously injured.

Aguilar's father told CNN affiliate WCJB that his son disappeared after a fight over a girl.

After talking with police September 21, Bravo was held for mental examination after threatening to harm or kill himself. He was later charged with depriving a victim of medical care, a third-degree felony.

Authorities have used helicopters and K-9 units to search for Aguilar, to no avail. The young man's family members, meanwhile, have plastered the area with fliers, taken to Twitter to generate leads and invited a nonprofit search group to help look for him alongside family members and police.

CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

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