Grim Discovery Confirms Suspicions : Abuse: Neighbors voice relief and regret after officials find emaciated young girl chained to a bed.

Cynthia Topper sometimes chattered to neighbors about her daughter, bragging about how bright she was, how she liked going to school each day and how they would splash together in the backyard wading pool.

But the neighbors rarely, if ever, saw the young girl Topper described. Some wondered if the youngster really lived in the rundown yellow house with its windows painted over.

They shared bittersweet feelings of relief and guilt Wednesday, a day after authorities wheeled out an emaciated 6-year-old from Topper’s Riverside County home.

Acting on a tip, sheriff’s deputies found young Bettye Topper chained to a brass bed in a small bedroom full of filth, debris and human feces. She was terrified, weighed just 30 pounds and could not speak or walk. Authorities suspect that she had been tied up most of her life in the home, where narrow passageways were formed by piles of trash and belongings.

The girl’s medical condition was upgraded Wednesday from serious to fair, but she remained at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

The girl’s 39-year-old mother and her 76-year-old grandfather, Loren Bess--who owned and lived in the family home--could be arraigned as early as today on felony child endangerment charges. Additional charges could be added, officials said, as authorities continue to investigate the case. Bail has been set at $10,000 each.

Investigators declined to discuss any possible motive or statements made by the two suspects.

Robert Spira, the Riverside County prosecutor handling the case, said it appeared chaining the child may have been “a way to make sure the child did not engage in destructive behavior at home.”

Neighbors said they rarely saw Bess. They viewed much of what Topper said skeptically, especially given her past troubles.

In December 1983, a convicted killer in a jealous rage severely beat Topper--a former girlfriend--with a claw hammer and shot her husband to death.

The attack left her in a coma, and she required brain surgery twice. During the attacker’s sentencing, Loren Bess said his daughter was never the same after the attack.

“It’s like a cloud passing over her,” he said. “I can’t explain it. . . . It’s not the Cyndi we remember.”

A spokeswoman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday that Topper’s problems stemming from the attack on her 15 years ago are not a consideration in the current investigation.

Along Elm Street, an unpaved dead end in central Norco with several well-maintained homes on large lots, neighbors were thankful the child was rescued alive, but regret they didn’t do more, sooner.

“I feel horrible,” said Valerie Ruis, 39, who lives next door to Topper, separated by a row of animal pens. Ruis, who has lived on the street about a year, was one of those who heard Topper tell stories about the girl.

“To me, she was just making it up,” she said. She never saw the girl, toys in the yard or any other sign of her. At one point, three months ago, she and her husband even considered calling authorities.

“Now, I’m, like, ‘Why didn’t I [call]?’ ” she said.

Another neighbor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “We all feel sort of stupid around here.” Three months ago, Topper bragged to him that her girl was “smart as a whip” and attending school every day. The neighbor had not seen the girl since she was about 2 years old. “You got a suspicion, but you don’t have any proof,” he said, explaining why he did not notify authorities.

The neighbor said his heart sank when he saw the small, “deathly white” girl, with arms he said were the diameter of quarters, being taken away by authorities.

The woman who did make the call Tuesday once rented a home on Elm Street, but no longer lives there. DeVora Antisdel, 43, of Riverside said she finally acted after conversations with Dave Beck, her former neighbor and landlord on Elm.

Beck said he had been troubled by a chance encounter with Topper and her father last year in the parking lot outside a supermarket. A small girl was seated between them in the front seat, but only grunted when Beck greeted her.

Beck said he asked neighbors and deliverymen who worked on the street about the girl. None had seen any sign of her, he said, or of any child at the home.

“I was determined that it wouldn’t get dropped,” Antisdel said. “If there was a chance I was right, I had to be sure this was looked into.”

Antisdel said she and her roommate finally placed the calls Tuesday, after “adding up all the facts.”

Sheriff’s Sgt. Perri Feinstein-Portales said one lesson of the case is “when you’re talking about the life of a child, never be afraid to call 911 and have them check.”

Offers of money and other help poured into Loma Linda Medical Center and the county’s social services agency Wednesday.

“They just want her to have things she’s never had,” said hospital spokeswoman Julie Smith. “Most of all love.”

Donations may be made to the Trust Account at the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, 4060 County Circle Drive, Riverside, CA 92503. Checks should be payable to the account, with a note indicating they are for the Topper child.