Body of Missing Girl Found; Man Arrested

The partially clothed body of a missing 10-year-old girl was found stuffed inside an ice chest in a shallow grave Thursday after her suspected killer broke down and began to talk to police.

Brian K. Smith, 24, a delivery truck driver who lived a few blocks away from Melissa Wakefield, was arrested on suspicion of murder, San Bernardino County spokesman Jim Bryant said.

The girl vanished from her bed in her family’s travel trailer in a semi-rural area near Fontana early July 5 and was the object of an intense search for nearly a week.

Detectives believe that Smith saw Melissa at a neighborhood Fourth of July party where she and other children were given beer. The suspect walked her home with her stepsister and helped put her to bed in the trailer parked outside Melissa’s house.

About three hours later, Smith allegedly returned to the trailer and took the girl, Bryant said.

‘Inconsistent Answers’

Deputies said that there are no obvious signs of violent injury to her decomposing, 40-pound body but that there is evidence of sexual molestation. An autopsy was to be taken to determine how she died and whether she was molested.

Police considered Smith a suspect from the beginning because he “gave a lot of inconsistent answers” and because he was the oldest one at the party for children and teen-agers. Many children, including Melissa, were given beer at the party, Bryant said.

Deputies found the shallow grave about 10:30 a.m. less than a mile from California 138 south of the rural community of Phelan. A metal chest containing her body was found about 1 1/2 feet below the surface on a three-acre plot Smith had recently purchased, Bryant said.

Smith, who lived with his mother, drove a delivery truck in the area. He had no criminal record, except for some traffic tickets, Bryant said.