ANAHEIM : 600 Interviewed for Clues to Girl’s Killing

Sheriff’s investigators say they have interviewed more than 600 people and expect to talk to dozens more as they attempt to solve the gruesome slaying of a 9-year-old girl.

The Sheriff’s Department has set up a command post outside the Hudlund Drive home where Autumn Wallace was slain. Investigators on Thursday continued to scour the house for clues, Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

Autumn’s body was found in her bathtub last Friday by her mother, Linda Wallace, 42.

Investigators believe that Autumn was killed when one or more intruders broke into the Wallace home while the girl was alone. She was last seen by neighbors playing in front of her home in an unincorporated area between Stanton and Anaheim.

Autumn’s 18-year-old sister, April, said she arrived home from work and noticed that several items were missing from the house, including a TV, videotape recorder, microwave oven and mirror.

Frightened, April went across the street to a neighbor’s house and asked whether anyone had seen anything unusual. About 20 minutes later, Linda Wallace returned home and found her daughter’s body in the back bathroom.

Since the slaying, the family has not been allowed back into the house because of the continuing investigation. The Wallaces have been staying with friends.

Olson said investigators are using a laser-detection system that seeks out fingerprints and clothing fibers that would otherwise be undetectable.

“How it works is that they spray something like super glue in the rooms. When the fumes set, they go in with laser lights to see what they come up with,” Olson said.