Jeff German on the tireless efforts to solve girl’s death

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006 | 7:29 a.m.

From a distance the mass of candles, stuffed teddy bears, flowers and candy hearts looks out of place in front of a dirty parking lot Dumpster at The Fountains at Villa Cordova apartments.

As you get closer, you see computer-generated photos sprinkled throughout the makeshift memorial to the 2 1/2- year-old girl whose body was dumped here last week, clad in the kind of soft and brightly colored clothing you would expect any girl of her age to be wearing.

Your heart aches.

And you get angry, trying to understand how such a beautiful life could have been cut short and discarded in such a callous manner.

With her identity still unknown, the little girl is called the "Angel of Villa Cordova" around this South Eastern Avenue complex -- a sad reminder of where her body was discovered.

In the middle of the shrine to the child is a large card placed by Bob Ward, a retired casino pit boss who has lived at Villa Cordova the past 12 years.

"Little angel, your life was short, but you brought out love in all of us," the card reads. "Rest in peace."

The 70-year-old Ward's reaction is typical of anyone who hears about this tragedy, which has been kept alive all week by the media and a community searching for answers.

"It's devastating, too horrible," Ward says. "It's so sad. I hope they find who did this."

Following an autopsy and, I'm told, the discovery of trauma to the girl's body, the case was turned over to Metro's homicide unit on Tuesday.

Police and Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy have provided few details of how the Angel of Villa Cordova died.

But Sheriff Bill Young tells me there's no question she met with foul play.

"We believe she did not die of natural causes," Young says. "It emanated from some type of abuse situation. It makes us sick."

Police are hoping to hold a news conference today to discuss the progress of the homicide investigation. Among those expected to be on hand is Murphy.

This case, Murphy says, has been hard on everyone in his office.

"It hurts," he says. "It's a tough one to deal with."

But Murphy adds that the people in his office are spending "every free moment" working to learn the young girl's identity and help police find the people responsible for her demise.

"I believe the greater good will win here," he says. "With a lot of hard work, we can identify her and deal appropriately with her death."

In the trenches is Detective Roberto Juarez, a seven-year veteran of Metro's Missing Persons Detail, who is spearheading the search for the child's identity.

He's one of dozens of detectives who have dedicated themselves to the case night and day.

"It's a moving experience," says Juarez, who has gotten little sleep over the past week. "But you can't deal with the emotional side. You have to keep your mind-set where it needs to be. Our objective right now is to give this baby a name."

So far that task has included following up on nearly 200 leads provided by the public and sending detectives and volunteers armed with composite photos of the little girl into nearby neighborhoods and schools to find still more leads.

Detectives also continue to solicit the help of the local and national media to publicize their efforts.

"In the final analysis, someone out there knows something," Juarez says. "We're hoping to get the thought process going."

And give this child the send-off she deserves to her final resting place.Clark County coroner