Missouri: Heartbreak has come to one of the Midwest’s happiest getaways.

A 55-year-old man was charged with first-degree murder on Sunday after officials said he strangled a six-year-old girl who appeared to be staying at the same hotel as he was in Branson, a southern Missouri resort town.

“My prayers go out to the family, and I hope that everyone will think of this and take extra time to treasure their children this evening,” Taney County Prosecutor Jeffery M. Merrell told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.

The disappearance of Jasmine Miller on Saturday evening prompted police to search the Windsor Inn, a down-market hotel that offers rooms as cheap as $47 (Dh172) a night and is an easy walk to attractions such as the World’s Largest Toy Museum and go-kart and mini-golf courses.

Jasmine, whose blond hair was trimmed short, had last been seen wearing a black coat, a striped shirt and jeans, according to local news reports.

Searchers found her body in a guest room at the inn. Jasmine had been strangled, police said.

The man arrested on suspicion of killing her, John Paul Roberts, didn’t appear to know her but also appeared to be a guest at the hotel, Taney County Prosecutor Merrell told The Times, noting that investigators were still looking into the case.

Branson police said in a statement provided to The Times that Roberts had acted alone and that Jasmine’s killing had been premeditated, but did not provide further details.

A mugshot of Roberts showed him with an unkempt beard, an uneven haircut and a slightly startled expression as he stared into the camera, his mouth tightened in a grimace.

Merrell, who declined to comment on how Jasmine had disappeared, said Roberts had been living in the Branson area recently. The names of Jasmine’s parents or guardians weren’t released, and the phone at the Windsor Inn rang without answer as news of the killing spread through southwestern Missouri on Sunday.

Roberts had been arrested in late January and was free on $171 bond in Taney County while awaiting trial for second-degree burglary — knowingly entering a home or building to commit a crime. Roberts pleaded not guilty in that case.

Court records detailing that incident and the new murder charges were not immediately available on Sunday afternoon, but online court records for the January burglary incident listed Roberts’ last known address as a Branson apartment complex about 6.4km from the Windsor Inn.

A manager for that property declined to comment on Sunday.