NATION : Body in Cellar Prompts Arrest

KINGSTON, Mass. — A church deacon faced arraignment today for allegedly murdering a young neighbor after police investigating the teen-ager’s disappearance found a body buried in his basement.

Henry Meinholz, 52, a bookkeeper for a lumber company, was arrested Wednesday after the body was discovered in his cellar.

The body was exhumed after authorities obtained a court order, and investigators are waiting the results of an autopsy today to confirm their suspicions that it was the remains of Melissa Benoit.

Benoit, 13, vanished Sept. 15 after spending the afternoon watching television at another neighbor’s house. Melissa’s disappearance was brought to a national television audience Sept. 21 when Benoit’s mother, Diane Richard, appealed for her daughter’s return on the program “America’s Most Wanted.”