Police Seek Witnesses in Osborn Case : Officers to Pass Out Flyers in Area Where Slain Girl Vanished

Placentia police will be passing out flyers this morning that seek possible witnesses to the abduction of 14-year-old Wendy Osborn last month.

The teen-ager disappeared sometime after 8:10 a.m. Jan. 20 while walking from her home in Placentia to Tuffree Junior High School. Her body was found Feb. 1 by horseback riders in the Chino Hills area of San Bernardino County.

Police said they will be handing out the flyers at the corner of Bastanchury Road and Valencia Avenue. They said the intersection is the busiest in the general area of Wendy’s disappearance.

The flyers ask motorists if they saw either Wendy or one of two vehicles police suspect may have been involved in the abduction. The vehicles, police said, may have been used by Warren James Bland, a convicted sex offender who was arrested in San Diego after a statewide manhunt.

Bland, of Alhambra, has been charged with the kidnap-murder in December of Phoebe Ho, 7, of South Pasadena. He is so far the only suspect in Wendy’s murder. But authorities have said that evidence is not substantial enough to charge him with the crime.

The flyers show photos of Wendy and of the two vehicles allegedly used by Bland. One vehicle is a 1984 Chevrolet van, colored silver over gray, with California license number 2AZS532. The other vehicle is a 1970 Toyota four-door, blue over gray, with California license 314 ASU.

Police will hand out the flyers to motorists from 7:30 to 9 a.m. today, officers said.

Motorists will be asked to call either the Placentia police or San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department if they believe they saw the girl or either of the two vehicles on or after Jan. 20.

In a related development, the Placentia City Council is expected to vote tonight on whether to offer a $10,000 reward to anyone providing information leading to the arrest of Wendy’s killer. The council meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 401 E. Chapman Ave.