Child Death Suspect Linked to Stolen Car

Four days after he was questioned by homicide investigators in connection with the murder of a 7-year-old Phoebe Ho of South Pasadena, convicted sex offender Warren James Bland stole a Long Beach woman’s automobile and handgun and then fled, according to police.

Bland is the prime suspect in the death of Phoebe Ho and of 14-year-old Wendy Rachelle Osborn of Placentia, who disappeared less than two weeks after Bland stole the auto. In separate incidents, the girls were kidnaped while on their way to school and were later found dead, their bodies dumped in isolated areas miles from their homes.

The girls had been sexually assaulted, strangled and possibly tortured with pliers or other clamping devices, authorities said.

Considered armed and dangerous, Bland remains at large despite a task force of Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange county investigators seeking him on a murder warrant in the Ho case and for questioning in the death of Osborn.

Long Beach police and San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesmen said Friday that Bland is believed to have stolen a faded light blue, four-door 1970 Toyota Corolla, with the license plate 314 ASU.

Authorities said Bland stole the car from the North Long Beach home of Ann Rippetoe, 73. The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported Friday that Rippetoe said Bland had dyed his graying hair black and told her that he was “on the run” from police before stealing her car.

The newspaper described Rippetoe as Bland’s “long-time friend and pen pal.” Rippetoe declined interviews Friday.

Phoebe Ho disappeared on her way to school Dec. 11 and her body was found dumped in a field in Glen Avon on Dec. 18. Wendy Osborn disappeared on her way to school Jan. 20 and her body was found last Sunday in the Chino Hills.

When he fled, Bland was on parole for the molestation of an 11-year-old boy, whom he tortured with pliers. Bland has an extensive record of rape and child molestation dating to 1960 and has spent 21 of the last 26 years in prison or state mental hospitals.

Riverside County Sheriff Cois Byrd said that his investigators had interviewed Bland “for a matter of hours” on Jan. 3 at Bland’s home in Alhambra and seized a vehicle belonging to him and a van he had been driving. Bland was not arrested because there was little evidence then to link him to the Ho homicide, Byrd said.

At a later date California Department of Justice technicians scoured the van and Bland’s home and came up with carpet fibers, paint chips and other evidence linking him to the case, Byrd said.