A suspect accused of killing two missing girls from Arizona

TUCSON, Arizona – A man in prison has been charged with kidnapping and murdering two Arizona girls who went missing in 2012 and 2014, authorities said Saturday.

Christopher Matthew Clements, 36, was charged by a grand jury on Friday for murdering and kidnapping six-year-old Isabelle Celis and 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez, Tucson police chief Chris Magnus said.

Celis disappeared from her home in Tucson in April 2012 and her body was discovered in a rural southern area in March 2017.

Gonzalez 's body was discovered in June 2014 in the community of Avra ​​Valley, near Tucson, not far from where the remains of Celis were found.

Magnus and other officials held a press conference to announce the indictment but refused to answer reporters' questions and did not reveal how the girls had investigated Clements , except in 2017 information on the death of Celis.

He then provided information to the authorities that led to the discovery of Celis' remains, said Magnus.

Mr Magnus stated that Mr Clements had already been imprisoned for other charges when the charge was published.

Pima County prosecutor Barbara LaWall said Clements' apprehension was long overdue.

"The heartbreaking tragedies of the Maribel Gonzalez and Isabel Celis murders have been compounded by a very long wait for justice," she said.

Celis' father reported that the girl had gone missing after finding out that she was not in her room.

Previously, the police did not name the suspects, but they said they found "suspicious circumstances around a possible entry point" in the house.

Last year, a medical examiner said that the death of Isabel Celis was "a homicide by unspecified means". A heavily redacted autopsy report did not indicate how she died.

Gonzalez disappeared while going to a friend's house and his body was found a few days later.

Clements made his first court appearance on Saturday morning.

He does not have an agent yet but will be appointed on September 24th.