Polly Is a ‘Beautiful Angel Now’ : Crime: Mourners leave offerings at a sidewalk shrine after news of the heartbreaking discovery. Condolence calls pour in from across the nation for the murdered 12-year-old girl.

One by one, the mourners visited the sidewalk shrine Sunday, leaving purple flowers and lighting candles to Polly Klaas, the 12-year-old girl who will not be coming home.

Men and women broke down in sobs before the photograph of the smiling girl, made so familiar to so many over the two heartbreaking months since she was kidnaped from her bedroom. Many brought presents and cards, like the mother who left a white angel doll with a note reading: “Polly, you are the most beautiful angel now.”

Petaluma, the quiet town that rallied behind the missing girl and launched an international campaign to find her, was in shock and mourning with the news that her body was found Saturday in a field near Cloverdale, 42 miles to the north.

Around town, Polly’s death dominated church services, and hundreds--perhaps thousands--of people came by the Polly Klaas search center to offer their condolences.

“We all held on to a shred of hope for a happy ending,” said a teary-eyed Petaluma Police Sgt. Mike Kerns, who worked on the case from the beginning. “A substantial amount of innocence has been lost in Petaluma.”

Leaders of the volunteer search committee said they found some strength in their commitment to continue working on behalf of other children who are missing, some of them for years.

“I think it’s helping that there is a resolution and a place to focus our grief and anger,” said Joanne Gardner, a spokeswoman for the Polly Klaas Foundation. “Our hearts go out to the parents of all children who haven’t been found.”

For many, Polly had become a symbol of a world grown so dangerous that children are not safe even in their own homes in small-town America.

A relative newcomer to Petaluma, the seventh-grader was hosting a slumber party with two friends Oct. 1 when a bearded stranger entered the house, tied up her friends and took her away at knifepoint.

Last week, Richard Allen Davis, a twice-convicted kidnaper, was arrested in the case.

Davis, 39, was initially detained by Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies about 90 minutes after Polly was taken when his car got stuck in a ditch east of Santa Rosa. But the deputies, unaware of the nearby kidnaping, helped him free his car and let him go.

Authorities now believe that Polly--alive or dead--was stashed in the woods nearby while Davis was questioned by deputies for nearly 40 minutes, one law enforcement official said.

After Davis was apprehended, police were able to match his palm print with one found in Polly’s bedroom.

Davis, who had been held in isolation since his arrest, received a visitor Saturday--an unidentified friend who apparently told him of the palm print, authorities said. Afterward, Davis asked to speak with a Petaluma police detective and told him where Polly could be found.

The girl’s body was discovered in a shallow, small depression beside a grove of trees and about 50 yards west of busy U.S. 101, just south of Cloverdale. It was also about 50 yards from where highway workers have been building a freeway bypass.

Petaluma police and the FBI said the body was concealed and had been at the location for “some time.” But they would not say how long she might have lived after the kidnaping, how she had died, or whether the body had been buried.

Eighteen FBI forensic experts combed the site through much of the day before allowing the body to be moved Sunday afternoon. Authorities also ended searches at the Indian reservation where Davis was arrested, and in the field east of Santa Rosa where he was briefly detained.

The agents were not unmoved; after their investigation at the site concluded, according to KCBS radio in San Francisco, a group of FBI agents laid a bouquet at the site, said a prayer and embraced.

“We don’t know enough to have a conclusive scenario,” said FBI spokesman Rick Smith. “We’ll be able to figure out how it happened but I don’t know if we’ll ever figure out why.”

Davis was arrested on murder and kidnaping charges and transferred early Sunday morning from Mendocino County, where he was being held on a parole violation, to the Sonoma County Jail.

Marc Klaas, Polly’s grief-stricken father, remained in seclusion with other family members, but issued a statement thanking volunteers and the news media for their support.

“Polly has become more than a neighbor in Petaluma,” he said. “She has become America’s child.”

Throughout the day, a steady stream of well-wishers came to the Polly Klaas search center to offer their condolences and calls poured in from around the country. Volunteers wearing “We love you Polly” T-shirts roamed in and out of the headquarters weeping and embracing.

Outside the office, more than a hundred glowing candles on the sidewalk encircled a photograph of the dimpled face that had circulated nationwide during the 65-day search.

Townspeople left all manner of offerings: a Christmas stocking with Polly’s name on it, homemade Christmas cookies on a napkin, stuffed animals, cards and--because her favorite color was purple--purple balloons, purple chrysanthemums and purple roses.

“What drew me here today is the people who are here,” said Coast Guard officer Pete Horasek, who broke down in tears before the makeshift shrine. “They gave everything they had to this, and even if we didn’t bring Polly back, there’s a lot of love here.”

Leaders of the search said they are considering mounting a campaign for tougher laws to protect children, including imposing a sentence of life in prison without parole for violent criminals who are convicted twice.

Outside the foundation office, volunteers hung a banner reading: “We’re hurt! We ache! We grieve! We’re angry! We’re not done!”

In Cloverdale, where Polly’s body was found, a different sort of crowd gathered.

Throughout the day, a grim procession of the curious pulled off the freeway and climbed a small knoll to view the scene. From the very young to the very old, they came on foot, bicycle and skateboard. Many brought binoculars.

Among them was Curt Jessen, who said he moved from Anaheim to Cloverdale because he thought it would be a nice, safe place to live.

“What has everyone in shock here is that this unfolded here in Cloverdale,” Jessen said, watching through his binoculars as FBI agents loaded Polly’s body into a white van. “It’s such a small town and people moved here to get away from crime. I think we all realize now that just isn’t possible.”

Tragic Trail

1. Petaluma, where Polly Klaas was kidnaped from her home Oct. 1.

2. Cloverdale, where Polly’s body was found Saturday.

3. Oakmont, where deputies stopped the car driven by Richard Allen Davis shortly after the kidnaping, but found no reason to hold him.

4. The Coyote Valley Indian Reservation, a few miles north of Ukiah, where Davis was arrested Tuesday.