SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced the filing of criminal charges Monday in the killing of Emma Roark in Rancho Cordova.
The DA's office says in a statement that Mikilo Rawls killed Roark after sexually assaulting her. The charges include murder, rape, kidnap and sodomy.
Rawls was arrested Friday and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail.
Rawls is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Roark’s family confirmed to ABC10 that Roark was autistic and had gone for a walk in the middle of the day Thursday, Jan. 27, and never came home.
She was missing and was last seen leaving her home around 12 p.m. Police said it took four days of searching before they found her body. She was found in a secluded rural area with access to the American River on El Manto Drive.
“The circumstances of this murder are horrific, and our sympathies go out to Emma Roark’s family,” Schubert said in a statement. “I am incredibly proud of our Crime Lab criminalists who responded to the scene and dedicated every available resource to identify a responsible party.”
The arrest warrant for Rawls details how the search for Roark's cell phone led detectives to Rawls. According to the warrant, Roark's father was contacted by someone who purchased the phone from Rawls.
On Friday, law enforcement said that Rawls was homeless at the time of the killing.
“The Sheriff’s Office is sympathetic to the transient population, we understand people are experiencing hard times," Sacrament County Sheriff Cheif Deputy Jim Barnes said. "But there is evil amongst them, and that’s what Mr. Rawls was.”
WATCH MORE ON ABC10: Watch | Arrest made in death of Rancho Cordova's Emma Roark