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Infant missing since grandmother’s killing is dead

In this undated photo provided by the Upper Merion (Pa.) Township Police Department, Satyavathi Venna holds her granddaughter, Saanvi Venna. Police issued an Amber Alert for the 10-month-old girl on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, following the discovery of Satyavathi Venna's body at the Marquis Apartments in King of Prussia, Pa. Investigators did not immediately release details on the death of the girl's 61-year-old grandmother. (Upper Merion Township Police Department)
Associated Press
In this undated photo provided by the Upper Merion (Pa.) Township Police Department, Satyavathi Venna holds her granddaughter, Saanvi Venna. Police issued an Amber Alert for the 10-month-old girl on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, following the discovery of Satyavathi Venna's body at the Marquis Apartments in King of Prussia, Pa. Investigators did not immediately release details on the death of the girl's 61-year-old grandmother. (Upper Merion Township Police Department)

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) — Authorities recovered the body of a 10-month-old girl not far from where her grandmother was slain and arrested a family friend who investigators said killed them in a botched ransom kidnapping.

Saanvi Venna’s body was found around 4:30 a.m. Friday in a suitcase in the basement of a building in the same Upper Merion Township apartment complex where she lived. Investigators had been searching for her since Monday.

The family friend killed 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna while trying to abduct the girl, whom he planned to ransom for $50,000, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said.

“The grandmother died trying to save her granddaughter’s life, trying to prevent her from being taken,” Ferman said.

The suspect’s name wasn’t immediately released.

An autopsy was being conducted on the girl. A handkerchief had been stuffed in her mouth and her body had been put in a suitcase, Ferman said.

The suspect had participated in a candlelight vigil held for the missing girl and distributed fliers, Ferman said.

Upper Merion Township police say the girl’s father and mother moved to the U.S. from India in February 2007 and into the apartment in June.

The grandmother had been visiting from India since July and was scheduled to return home in January. She died of cuts to her neck and chest, a coroner said.