Authorities searching waters in Portsmouth for body of UNH student

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DOVER, N.H. (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) — Authorities in Maine and Massachusetts are being asked to watch their shores for the body of a University of New Hampshire student believed to have been killed a week ago.

Nineteen-year-old Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott, of Westborough, Mass., vanished Oct. 9 after attending a night class. Her body hasn't been found. Authorities have been searching the waters around Peirce Island in Portsmouth, N.H.

>>IMAGES: Search for Elizabeth Marriott's body focuses on water

Seth Mazzaglia, 29, was charged Saturday with second-degree murder in Marriott's death. He was arraigned Monday and is being held without bail at Strafford County House of Corrections. He didn't speak during his brief arraignment and his court-appointed attorneys didn't object to the prosecutor's request that he be held without bail.

Prosecutors said Mazzaglia, who is an actor and martial arts instructor, strangled and suffocated Marriott on Oct. 9. No other details about Marriott's death were released and all court documents were sealed.

Marriott disappeared after planning to meet up with friends in Dover. A source said she was going to meet up with a woman named Kat, who is reportedly Mazzaglia's girlfriend and roommate. Investigators said Kat and Marriott met while working together at Target.

New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young held a press conference Monday afternoon that provided little new information in the death of Marriott. She said Mazzaglia and Marriott "were familiar with each other."

Young said crews were using sonar to scour an underwater area near Lookout Point on Peirce Island in Portsmouth. She said the search could last several more days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Authorities searching waters in Portsmouth for body of UNH student