Woman Leads Investigators to Body of Half Sister : Murder: Suspect admits she killed the 3-year-old while punishing her, sheriff’s deputies say. She originally claimed the girl disappeared from her car.

A 33-year-old West Covina woman was arrested on suspicion of murder Friday after leading investigators to the body of her 3-year-old half sister, who she originally said had vanished from the parking lot of a Target store, sheriff’s deputies said.

Elvira Moreno Valencia told investigators she made up her earlier story about Perla Guadelupe Valencia’s disappearance. Elvira Valencia said Perla actually died while she was punishing the child at their home Wednesday, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Ronald D. Spear.

“She had been disciplining the girl and she got carried away,” Spear said. “There was some blunt force trauma.”

Spear said murder charges will be sought against Valencia.

A body identified by sheriff’s deputies as that of Perla Valencia was found in a plastic trash bag just before 6 p.m. at the bottom of a hill near San Gabriel Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forest. The girl’s shod feet extended from the mouth of the bag, Spear said.

Sheriff’s homicide investigators questioned Valencia--who family members said was the child’s legal guardian--at her home Friday afternoon. Spear said Valencia broke down under questioning.

“There may have been other episodes of abuse,” said Spear. “This is a real tragedy.”

Valencia was booked at the sheriff’s Industry station Friday night. Sheriff’s officials said an autopsy would be performed to determine the exact cause of death.

Wednesday, the woman told authorities that while she was retrieving her purse from her vehicle’s trunk, parked at the Target on the 17700 block of Colima Road in the City of Industry, the girl vanished from the back seat of the car.

Elvira Valencia told detectives that Perla’s 2-year-old brother remained unharmed in the back seat..

Investigators said they became concerned about inconsistencies in Valencia’s story Thursday. They said they gave her a lie detector test, but the results were inconclusive.

On Friday, Valencia broke down and told detectives that after beating the girl to death, she wrapped Perla in plastic and drove 14 miles north to the forest, Spear said.

The child’s father, Francisco, started serving a sentence in Delano State Prison seven months ago for the attempted rape of another family member, said Sheriff’s Deputy Benita Nichol. Perla’s mother, Martha Villa, died less than a year ago.

Valencia received custody of the child about seven months ago. Another family member tried to obtain custody, but Nichol did not know who the family member was or what the circumstances were in the dispute.