Colorado Teen Confesses to Killing 10-Year-Old

By Chris Clackum, NBC News

October 25, 2012 Updated Oct 25, 2012 at 4:49 PM PDT

The Colorado teenager arrested for the kidnapping and killing of a 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway has reportedly confessed.

17-year-old Austin Sigg made his first court appearance Thursday.

For now Sigg is being held as a juvenile, but that's expected to change when prosecutors formally charge him next Tuesday.

"Based on my experience and what I think the charges will be, I think the appropriate thing to do is charge him as an adult," District Attorney Scott Storey told reporters after the hearing.

Those charges are expected to include kidnapping and killing Jessica on October 5th.

Her dismembered body was discovered several miles away from where she disappeared while walking to school in the Denver suburb of Westminster, and not far from where Sigg lived.

A search by authorities at his home this week reportedly turned up human remains.

Sigg's mother told two news organizations she was the one who called police.

Other sources say he turned himself in after telling authorities where to find the remains.

Sigg was enrolled in community college, where he was said to be fascinated in mortuary science with a particular interests in crime scene investigations.

Prosecutors confirm that whatever charges Austin Sigg faces, he won't face the death penalty because he's still a juvenile.

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