Red Bluff man arrested in connection with teen's death

Red Bluff police arrested a man Saturday night in connection with the death of 14-year-old Marysa Nichols.

Quentin Ray Bealer, 39, of Red Bluff, was booked into Tehama County Jail on suspicion of murder.

“Bealer was interviewed extensively this morning,”Police Chief Paul Nanfito said in a statement at a press conference.

“Based upon information obtained from the interview, members of the Red Bluff Police Department, Tehama County Sheriff’s Department and the Tehama County Probation Department served two search warrants,” Nanfito added. “One was served at a residence on the 1400 block of Second Street in Red Bluff and the other was served on Central Avenue in Gerber.”

Nanfito did not offer any details about what if anything was recovered from the searches, and again declined to offer a cause of death.

He said the cause of death will be announced after the autopsy is concluded.

Nichols’ body was found by law enforcement at 11 a.m. Thursday in Brickyard Creek, which runs behind Red Bluff High School. She had been reported missing on Tuesday.

A surveillance video of Nichols wandering in the direction of the creek, her typical path home, also showed a white male in that vicinity around the same time.

The police released the video to the media on Friday night and asked for help in identifying the man.

Nanfito said that the department received “dozens and dozens of tips” from the video.

“He was positively ID’d as the person on the surveillance tape,” the chief said.

However, Bealer was not the man area residents posted about as a possible suspect on nearly 300 Facebook pages.

That man was a registered sex offender. Nanfito said he is not aware of any criminal history for Bealer.

Nanfito, who expressed his gratitude to the public for its support, became a bit emotional when asked about how he felt about Nichols’ killing happening in his community.

He said that anybody would be upset if his or her child had been killed, but was clearly choked up when responding.

Nichols, a student at Bluff High School’s Education Outreach Academy, was remembered Friday night during a candlelight vigil as a happy, typical teenager who loved her family.

“I came to honor her. She was my friend,” a girlfriend said at the vigil, which was held at the county courthouse.