Police continue search for body

Four boats continued to search the   waters around Peirce Island in Portsmouth Thursday for the body of UNH commuter student Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott, 19, who was last heard from around 10 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 9, when she texted a friend saying she was going to visit friends in Dover. Maine officials have joined the search and supplied aerial support. Massachusetts officials have also been notified, but have not yet joined the search.


“The search in that area may last several more days,” said Assistant N.H. Attorney General Jane Young in a press conference Monday.


According to the second-degree murder charges against Dover resident Seth Mazzaglia, 29, Marriott was strangled and/or suffocated in Mazzaglia’s apartment at 1 Mill St.


A second-degree murder charge applies if someone knowingly causes a death and shows an extreme indifference to the value of life. The charge holds a possible life sentence in prison.


Several news outlets – including Foster’s Daily Democrat and CBS Boston – have reported Marriott was murdered during a sexual encounter with Mazzaglia; however, neither Young nor other officials have made any statements confirming or denying the reports.


Several other reports also suggested that police may make additional arrests during the course of the case. Young said Thursday that at this time the investigation is ongoing and the state will make “appropriate charges” if more evidence is uncovered.


While Young said that Marriott’s murder was an isolated incident and that Marriott and Mazzaglia knew each other, she would not comment on how they knew each other.


According to Mazzaglia’s charge, Marriott was murdered on Tuesday, Oct. 9, the same day she was reported missing. Authorities, including UNH Police, began to help search for her and her car, which was later found in a campus parking lot. On Saturday, Dover Police arrested Mazzaglia and took over the case. While the search for Marriott’s body was postponed on Sunday due to rough waters, it resumed Monday morning. Mazzaglia was arraigned Monday morning and entered no plea.


Mazzaglia is currently being held without bail at the Strafford County House of Corrections in Dover. He will be held until his probable cause hearing at 10 a.m. on Oct. 29, when the court will decide if there is enough evidence for a trial.