Warm Remembrances of Slain Girl, 9 : Crime: Family, friends and playmates recall Autumn Wallace as bright, fun-loving and considerate. The child was apparently killed during a burglary at her home.

Friends, family and classmates of Autumn Wallace, a 9-year-old slain during an apparent burglary, remembered her Saturday as a bright, outgoing little girl who evoked laughter and warmth from all who knew her.

“Sometimes there are people like that who are so special that they teach us about life,” the Rev. Michael Bradaric told nearly 200 people who gathered for the funeral at Magnolia Baptist Church. “Autumn was one of those special people.”

The little girl was stabbed to death June 15 at her home on Hedlund Drive in an unincorporated area between Stanton and Anaheim, north of Katella Avenue. Police believe she was killed during a burglary committed while she was alone in the house.

Autumn’s 18-year-old sister, April, said she arrived home from work and noticed several things missing from the house, including a television, videotape recorder and mirror. Frightened, she went across the street to a neighbor’s house until her mother, Linda Wallace, returned home from work.

Linda Wallace found Autumn’s body in a back bathroom.

No arrests have been made so far.

Residents in the quiet, residential community expressed shock and many said they wondered how a playful little girl could be struck down by such a senseless and random act.

It is a question always asked when such a young life is taken, Bradaric said.

“There isn’t any way our question will ever be answered,” he said. “It’s simply not possible. The sacred things of God are secret and too high for us. There are some things God does that we don’t understand and this is one of them.”

From aisles festooned with pink and white balloons and dozens of pink and white roses, carnations and lilies of the valley, those who knew Autumn Wallace rose to share their memories.

“I worked with her mother and Autumn came in and would always be laughing,” Sally White said. “She would come and play with the typewriter and play office. We enjoyed having her here every day.”

One classmate said she liked to play tetherball with Autumn because she was never stingy and didn’t brag about winning.

Autumn was mature for her age: a straight “A” student at Dr. Jonas E. Salk Elementary School who loved to play basketball, Nintendo and other computer games. She enjoyed going to Chuck E. Cheese for its array of video games, although she hated pizza, her friends said.

After the half-hour service, mourners filed slowly past the white, open casket in which Autumn clutched her favorite teddy bear. But many tendered a smile rather than tears.

“This is an occasion to remind us how important it is to value the lives of our children,” Bradaric said. “Sometimes they are remembered as a responsibility or a burden, but we need to remember they are a precious gift God has given us.”

Autumn Wallace was later buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cypress. An Anaheim group, the Anaheim Citizens Against Violent Crime Reward Trust, is offering an $8,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer of Autumn Wallace.

A memorial fund has been established in her name at the Wells Fargo Bank, P.O. Box 629, Anaheim 92805, attention B. Mangione.