A suspect has NOT been arrested & charged, but detained. The Orange County Sherrif's has made of point that several people have been DETAINED in the past 24-hours, but not arrested & charged.
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Los Angeles Times: Lake Elsinore Man Questioned in Girl's Slaying
[url]http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-071902kidnap_upd.story[/url]
UPDATE
Lake Elsinore Man Questioned in Girl's Slaying
By CHRISTINE HANLEY and JACK LEONARD
Times Staff Writers
July 19 2002, 9:36 AM PDT
Detectives today awaited the results of forensic tests to determine whether
there is a link between the murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion and a
27-year-old Lake Elsinore man.
Alejandro Avila was being detained by Orange County Sheriff's officials at a
hotel while they served search warrants at his apartment not far from where
Samantha's body was discovered as well as at his mother's apartment and his
workplace.
Avila has not been arrested, and Sheriff's officials have yet to identify him as
their prime suspect.
But "I think it's safe to say that we've narrowed our field of investigation to
several people, and that this puzzle is coming together and every minute we're
getting closer to solving this crime," Sheriff Michael Carona said in an
interview today on NBC's "Today" show.
In a phone interview early today, Avila denied that he had anything to do with
the girl's kidnapping and murder. Avila said detectives questioned him for 12
hours Tuesday, and he told them he was at an Ontario mall Monday evening when
the kidnapping occurred.
Avila said detectives told him they found tiny fibers on Samantha's body that
are considered key evidence. They planned to keep him under detention through
the weekend, he added.
Avila's mother, Adelina Avila, also said he is innocent. "I know he didn't do
it," she said.
Police officers and forensic criminalists spent much of this morning collecting
evidence at the three locations. They confiscated three cars, a computer,
bedding, clothing, shoes, telephone bills, garbage bags and other items.
Samantha was snatched from outside her condominium in the northern Orange County
city of Stanton. Detectives believe the kidnapper held her for several hours,
sexually assaulting and eventually asphyxiating Samantha sometime Tuesday.
Officials suggested the girl fought back, scratching her attacker's face and
arms.
Her body was found in the open off a mountain road in the Cleveland National
Forest. The killer posed the body in such a way that the FBI believes it
amounted to a "calling card" and a warning that he would strike again.
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