Missing Girl’s Body Found in Garage by Mother

The bound body of an 11-year-old girl was found by her mother Monday in the back room of a boarded-up garage near the family home in Compton and police said the girl apparently had been sexually attacked before she died.

Officers said Wendy Bustamante had not been seen since about 5 p.m. Saturday, when she left the family home in the 900 block of Oak Street to collect a $5 payment for some costume jewelry she had sold to a neighbor.

When she did not return, her mother and father checked the neighborhood, then filed a report with police.

The girl’s mother found the fully clothed body about 11 a.m. in a boarded-up room at the rear of a converted garage in their neighborhood, police said. Officers said the girl was wrapped and tied in bedding.

Detectives said they were seeking the neighbor who had bought the jewelry for questioning.