Girl Seen Alone Before Murder

Santa Ana police said today that Patricia Lopez, the 9-year-old Santa Ana girl beaten to death near her school, was not abducted but walked or accepted a ride to the dry river bed where her body was found last Wednesday.

Police said witnesses saw Patricia walking alone along the flood channel. The same witnesses also gave investigators a description of a man who may be a suspect: a Latino in his 30s with a thick mustache, 5-feet-9 and stocky, Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Chavez said. Police are also trying to locate the owner of a gray pickup truck with a camper shell that was parked above the river bed about the time Lopez was killed, Chavez said.