Dead Toddler’s Mother Criticizes Inquiry

The mother of Cecil “C.T.” Turner lashed out Thursday at Orange County Sheriff’s investigators for making little headway in their 10-week search for the killer of the South County toddler.

Edith Marie Wu said detectives have been reluctant to share details of their investigation and will not cooperate with her private investigator. The body of the 2-year-old Turner was discovered Aug. 13 in heavy brush about a half mile from his home, a victim of suffocation, officials say.

“It’s been months, and I’m not very happy,” Wu said Thursday evening. “I don’t know where [detectives] are going, what they’re doing or what they’re thinking. They say they’re busy, but I don’t know what can be more important than the abduction and murder of a 2-year-old.”

Wu said she and San Clemente private investigator Donald Long have tried to meet with detectives for a month, only to be put off again and again. But a sheriff’s spokesman, Lt. Ron Wilkerson, rebuked that claim Thursday, blaming delays on scheduling problems for Wu’s attorney.

Wilkerson said the investigation is “open and active,” but no new leads have turned up. He said he felt sympathy for Wu and her concerns, adding, “We all have the same goal.”

Wu also said Thursday that immigration documents seized by police in a search of her home have jeopardized her husband’s future as a world-class competitive diver. Feilong Wu, the former national diving champion of China, needs the papers within two weeks to begin the qualification process for the 2000 Olympics, his wife said.

She said Sheriff’s officials have told her she needs a court order to reclaim the documents, but Wilkerson could not be reached Thursday evening to comment on that issue.

Wu planned to air her grievances in a meeting with reporters today near the spot where Turner’s body, partially covered by debris, was discovered by a Marine helping with the massive search for the missing youngster.

Wu said she is also upset that investigators have not stepped forward to dispel the air of suspicion that surrounds her and her husband in the community. The couple has been repeatedly questioned and their home was searched, but sheriff’s officials have described them as cooperative and not the focus of their investigation.

Wu declined comment on whether police have contributed to the speculation.

“I have my own opinion on that, but I don’t want to make a comment,” she said. “That’s dangerous territory.”