A 17-year-old Muslim girl identified as Nabra was kidnapped and beaten to death early Sunday morning in Sterling, Virginia. She was reported as missing at roughly 4 a.m. and now police believe they have found her body in a pond.


According to BuzzFeed, Nabra was headed to Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center with friends at 3:30 a.m. They had taken a break from prayers in order to eat and, having done so, were returning to the Center. But before they arrived, two men with baseball bats emerged from a car and began attacking them. Everyone in the group fled to safety, or so they thought at the time.

When the friends reassembled, they realized Nabra was nowhere to be found.

“They all dispersed after the incident, and when they met back up they realized she was missing,” ADAMS board member Rizwan Jaka told BuzzFeed.


At approximately 3 p.m. officers found the body of a female they believe to be Nabra in Sterling, Virginia. They have yet to confirm her identity.

“Our detectives are fairly certain that it is her,” Fairfax police spokesperson Tawny Wright told BuzzFeed. “But the Chief Medical Examiner still needs to conduct an autopsy to confirm the identity.”

Police believe that the body they found was assaulted—and a baseball bat was located near the scene.

Twenty-two-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres was arrested and charged with murder not long after police found the body. Although two men were purportedly involved in the attack, police say they are not seeking a second suspect.


Nabra and her peers were observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and their religious affiliation was evident. Yet detectives state that they have “not gotten any indication that this was motivated by hate or bias.”


Meanwhile, ADAMS has released a statement regarding Nabra’s death.

It reads, “We are devastated and heartbroken as our community undergoes and processes this traumatic event. It is a time for us to come together to pray and care for our youth.”


Some of Nabra’s peers are mourning her loss on Twitter.


If you wish to aid Nabra’s family with funeral costs, you can donate here.