Milana Li was only 13 years-old when she was found deceased near her family's Beaverton, Oregon home on May 10th, 2022. The young girl was last seen alive on May 8th. Milana left her home around 4:00 PM that afternoon to take a walk along the Westside Regional Trail to Barrows Park. Milana regularly walked this route and was typically only gone for half an hour to an hour. When she did not return for her 8:00 PM curfew, her family members began to worry. Milana was reported missing the following day.
Milana and her family are originally from Kazakhstan. The family moved to Beaverton a few years before Milana's untimely death. Milana's mother lives full time in Beaverton with their children, while Milana's father travels back and forth between Beaverton and Kazakhstan, where he runs a business. Members of the community in Beaverton described Milana and a quiet and sweet young girl. When she was first reported missing, police classified her as a runaway-despite the fact that she has no history of such behavior.
Shortly after 2:00 PM on May 10th, police received a call about "suspicious circumstances" in a small stream at Westside Linear Park. When officers responded the scene, they found the body of a young girl in the water. A short time later, the young girl was identified as Milana Li.
An autopsy determined that Milana died by homicide. At this time, investigators have declined to comment on her exact cause of death. Very little other information about the investigation has been revealed. Police are now searching for Milana's killer. Though an arrest has not yet been made, police maintain that they do not believe there is a threat to the community at this time.
If you have any information that could lead to an arrest of Milana's killer, please contact Beaverton authorities at 503-629-0111.
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UPDATE (May 21, 2022): An arrest has been made in Milana's case.
Daniel Ryan Gore has been arrested and charged with Milana's murder. Gore is only 16 years-old, but prosecutors plan to try him as an adult. Gore has a criminal history dating back to 2020. He is currently facing second-degree theft, second-degree arson, and criminal mischief charges in an unrelated case.
In February 2022, Gore violated his probation. Prosecutors recommended that he be held in a juvenile detention center since he had already run away from two different shelters for minors with pending criminal charges. However, the judge ultimately decided to allow Gore to live with his father and stepmother in Salem. He ran away two weeks after this ruling.
In April 2022, Gore's father told Salem authorities that he believed his son was in Beaverton. For unclear reasons, those authorities failed to notify the Beaverton police. Gore's whereabouts remained unknown until his arrest for Milana's murder.
At this time, police have not released information on how they tied Gore to Milana's case. The prosecution has requested that the judge seal the probable cause affidavit. More details will likely be provided at a later date.
Sources:
[KOIN]
[Oxygen]
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