Arizona authorities revealed on Friday that the 8-year-old girl who went missing from her Bullhead City home was strangled to death.

A medical examiner for the Mohave County said Isabella "Bella" Grogan-Canella's cause of death was asphyxiation.

Isabella's body was found by the Arizona police on Wednesday, a day after she was reported missing.

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The little girl was found wearing the same top she had on when she was last seen, but according to the authorities, the lower half of Isabella's body was naked.

Investigations are still ongoing to verify whether the little girl was sexually assaulted.

Meanwhile 26-year-old Justin Rector, a Bullhead City native, has been arrested in connection to Isabella's death.

Rector, who already had multiple run-ins with the law, was charged with kidnapping and first degree murder in the girl's death.

According to the authorities, Rector was  a friend of the Grogan-Canella's and was staying with the family during the time of Isabella's disappearance.

Rector is currently detained without bail.

Authorities said additional arrests regarding the murder are not yet ruled out.

Meanwhile, classmates and teachers of Isabella described her as a beautiful, friendly and inquisitive little girl.

In a statement released by principal Martin Muecke of the Diamondback Elementary School, he said Isabella was a studious little girl who paid attention to her sentence construction.

Isabella's homeroom adviser said her favorite subjects were writing, Language Arts and English.

Principal Cynthia Cochran of the Desert Valley Elementary School, another school Isabella attended, said it was a sad thing that others will no longer get to know the little girl.

Cochran told a Bullhead City newspaper that anyone who had a child "or works with children is devastated by this tragedy."

TagsArizona, missing, Isabella Grogan-Cannella, strangled