Witness Recants Report Of Suspect In Calaveras Girl's Death
VALLEY SPRINGS (CBS / AP) -- A potential witness in the killing of an 8-year-old Calaveras County girl has recanted her statements about seeing a possible suspect running from the girl's home and "is no longer credible," a sheriff's department spokesman said Thursday.
Sgt. Chris Hewitt said that while meeting with a sketch artist and detectives Wednesday, the unidentified witness refused to provide a description so a composite sketch could be made of the man.
Her account had been considered significant to identifying Leila Fowler's killer because her earlier descriptions had matched the one provided by Leila's 12-year-old brother, who was home alone with his sister when she was stabbed to death. The witness, however, reported seeing the suspect headed in the opposite direction than the brother had reported.
Witness Recants Statement in Search for Child's Killer
FBI agents are now assisting with the investigation into Leila's death. They are hoping the brother's description of her assailant will provide more leads.
Investigators so far have found no link between the attempted kidnapping of a 15-month-old girl in Placerville on Tuesday and Leila's slaying Saturday in her home in Valley Springs, about 50 miles away.
Although authorities still plan to do a DNA test on the 44-year-old kidnapping suspect, "detectives have determined it unlikely that there is a connection between the two crimes," Hewitt said.
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