#13-year-old Zaniya Wright found strangled in Connecticut

A 13-year-old Connecticut girl was found strangled to the death in the basement of an apartment building, reports said.

Zaniya Wright was found Friday morning in Manchester, a day after she was reported missing, in a “common area” of a building where her family doesn’t live, Eyewitness News 3 reported.

Family friend Alena Baker told the station that the seventh grader had been a victim of bullying, and her family had urged police to search the building on Alcott Street.

It wasn’t clear why the family thought she might be in there.

“Zaniya was a very strong girl,” Baker told the station.

Manchester public schools are making counselors available for grieving students, ctpost.com said.

“I want to offer our most sincere condolences and prayers to Zaniya’s family, her many friends, and people throughout our community traumatized by this terrible news,” Superintendent Matthew Geary said in a letter, according to ctpost.

“For all those who knew Zaniya both at school and in the community, this is a heartbreaking and incredibly sad day.”