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He fits description of police sketch; green cars impounded |
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| BREAKING NEWS MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS |
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| STANTON, Calif., July 19 — A man was arrested Friday morning in connection with the murder and rape of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion. Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona announced the arrest but added that investigators want the public to continue calling in any tips because the arrest “in no way concludes the investigation.” | |||||
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ALEJANDRO AVILA, 27, was arrested at an apartment complex in Lake Elsinore, Calif. Search warrants had earlier been served at the complex and the business where Avila works in nearby Temecula. Avila’s mother, who lives at the apartment complex, told KNBC-TV’s Patrick Healy earlier Friday that her son had called her from where he was being detained and denied any involvement in the crime. Adelina Avila said her son told police he was at a shopping mall at the time of Samantha’s kidnapping on Monday. He also said that police implied they found clothing fibers on Samantha’s body that matched fibers from his clothes. She added that her son had scratches on his legs, which he said were from a safety gate for toddlers. Police have said they believe the killer would have scratches due to evidence of a struggle. “I don’t think my son did anything, but I notice he is cooperating,” she was later quoted by the Associated Press as saying. “He hasn’t been through this before, so he doesn’t know what’s going on. He doesn’t have a record.” She did, however, tell Healy that her son was acquitted in 1999 on charges that he molested the daughter of his girlfriend at the time. Carona earlier told MSNBC that the apartment search was the result of a phone tip and that three green cars were impounded at the apartment complex. A friend of Samantha’s who was with her when she was abducted said she was taken away in a small green vehicle. |
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‘A LOT OF EVIDENCE’ |
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The child, whose body was found Tuesday in an open field in Riverside County, 50 miles from her home in Orange County, was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated that same day, authorities said. Carona on Thursday told “Today” that “a lot of evidence” had been gathered at the scene. He said at a news conference later Thursday that media attention had produced more than 1,000 leads called in by the public, but he would not offer details. Assistant Orange County Sheriff George Jaramillo told reporters that “numerous detentions” had been made for questioning. Among them was a man detained in Fresno, Calif., Thursday but by Friday it was looking less likely that he could be a suspect. ‘SERIAL RAPIST’ Carona said that he would not discuss the evidence but that the killer was probably still in Southern California. Wednesday, Carona described the killer as probably a “serial rapist and perhaps a serial killer” and said a profile developed by the FBI suggested that the man could attack again within 24 hours. Thursday, after that benchmark passed apparently without incident, Carona said the concern remained because of the “propensity” of serial rapists to strike again. Two men who were at a hang-gliding launch point in Cleveland National Forest spotted Samantha’s body Tuesday afternoon in an open field, less than a day after she was snatched, kicking and screaming, from in front of the apartment complex where she lived with her mother, her stepfather and two siblings. The family lives in Stanton, a city of 38,000 southeast of Los Angeles. |
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A police artist's sketch of the kidnapper. |
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 The friend who was with Samantha described the kidnapper, and police have since created a profile of a Latino male, 25 to 40 years old, with brown, slicked-back hair and a black mustache. He was wearing a powder-blue button-down shirt and driving a vehicle described as a light-green car, possibly a Honda or Acura, with chrome wheel covers.Carona urged people who noticed behavioral abnormalities in a man resembling the kidnapper — such as a sudden change in appearance or work habits, an unnatural interest in the status of the investigation or a reluctance to use a vehicle — to call police. ‘I MISS YOU, SAMANTHA’ Samantha’s mother, Erin Runnion, and stepfather, Ken Donnelly, were in seclusion in Stanton as authorities named their daughter as a murder victim. Authorities said Samantha’s grandmother identified the body based on photographs of the crime scene. Meanwhile, in Sunderland, Mass., Samantha’s biological father, Derek Jackson, mourned her at a news conference from his home. “I will always stay connected with her. She will live in my heart when I wake up every day,” Jackson said. “I love her dearly. I miss you, Samantha.”   Fewer child abductions by strangers |
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Samantha Runnion |
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 The daylight abduction of the curly-haired girl from inside a gated condominium complex evoked every parent’s worst nightmare. It followed the recent high-profile kidnappings of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her Salt Lake City home and 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, who was snatched from her San Diego home and later found slain. Elizabeth has not been found.Outside Samantha’s home, a memorial continued to grow. Flowers, stuffed animals, balloons, candles and personal messages to her were laid out on 14 tables in a courtyard of the housing complex. Tara Frietas, 13, walked with her grandfather, Art Domen, 79, from their Garden Grove home a few blocks away to pay their respects on Thursday. They said they had taken extra precautions. “I have to be home before dark. I can’t go anywhere alone, and I’m not to speak to strangers,” Tara said, adding she was afraid after hearing the sheriff comment Wednesday that the killer could strike again. HOW IT HAPPENED Samantha’s mother and stepfather were at work Monday evening when Samantha, who was being cared for by her grandmother, was abducted by a man who asked for help finding his dog. |
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Samantha was playing a board game with her 5-year-old friend Sarah Ahn when a man drove up, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said. The girls were sitting on a short wall about 150 feet from Samantha’s apartment. The man got out and asked them for help finding his dog, Amormino said. “A guy said: ‘Did you see a little Chihuahua?’ But he was lying. Then he stole my friend and drove really fast,” Sarah told reporters. Witnesses told deputies that Samantha talked to the man before he grabbed her and drove off. “She screamed, ‘Help me! Tell my grandmother!’” Sarah said. “I was so scared and ran back and told my mom.” Amormino said: “The girl was kicking and screaming, trying to get away. We do not believe she knew her kidnapper.” If you have a tip, call the Orange County sheriff’s office at 714-890-4280. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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