Leila Fowler, 8 Year Old Girl Found Stabbed to Death in Her Valley Springs, CA Home by Male Intruder Described as a White or Latino Man

An 8 year old girl was found stabbed to death in her home in Calaveras County, California. Leila Fowler was found in her Valley Springs home Saturday afternoon and pronounced dead at the hospital. Police are conducting a manhunt for her killer as a suspect was reportedly spotted fleeing the crime scene. Leila’s 12 year old brotherhad called for help, after having found her with “severe injuries,” saying he’d encountered a male intruder in the house. The suspect is described as a white or Latino man, about 6 feet tall with long gray hair. Authorities have said that the suspect is being considered armed and extremely dangerous and have asked that local residents stay indoors and lock their doors while the manhunt goes on.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are still searching for a suspect described as a white or Latino man, about 6 feet tall with a muscular build, last seen wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and blue pants.

Authorities were conducting a door-to-door sweep of homes, checking storage sheds and horse stables and searching attics. “It is a difficult area to search. It’s rural, remote,” sheriff’s Capt. Jim Macedo told the Associated Press.

Leila attended Jenny Lind Elementary in Valley Springs. Parents of other students there told Sacramento-area television station KCRA that she was one of seven children in her family. Grief counselors will be at the school Monday.

8-Year-Old Killed by Intruder.

The brother, who was not named, “is not a suspect at this time, but we are continuing to talk to him, which would be normal because he was the last person with the child,” he said.

Detectives are tracking down dozens of leads phoned into a tip line created Saturday, including some leading to other counties, he said.

A search of the family’s home overnight Saturday gave investigators a “substantial amount of evidence,” he said.

He would not describe how the girl was killed.

Witnesses have given police three differing descriptions of a possible intruder into the home, he said. The Sheriff’s Office is not releasing any of those descriptions, Macedo said.