As the Associated Press reports below, another layer of mystery has been added to an already bizarre case involving the discovery of a body, missing persons, carjackings and false imprisonment. The investigation began in Lennox, and diverted to Pico Rivera Wednesday when an outstanding suspect was arrested at a motel:
Investigators worked Thursday to determine what caused a fire at a Lennox drug house days after a body was found in the backyard.Arson detectives were called to the charred home in the unincorporated Lennox area on Wednesday night after firefighters extinguished the blaze.The fire added a new layer of mystery to a case that already includes missing persons, a carjacking and a possible killing.The homeowner, James Stein, 53, and his wife, Gabriela, vanished at different times in December.On Tuesday, a man’s body wrapped in cloth and plastic was unearthed from the trash-strewn backyard.Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide Lt. Don Slawson said coroner’s investigators had not identified the person.A two-day search of the property turned up no further human remains, and the Steins are both officially considered to be missing, Slawson said.“We’re trying to hunt her down (and) try to find out what happened,” the lieutenant said. “Hopefully, she’s alive. That would be the best-case scenario for all of us.”The fire was reported shortly after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, about two hours after a man was arrested on suspicion of carjacking someone at the home days earlier.Marcos Lomeli, 26, surrendered at a Pico Rivera motel following a brief standoff with a SWAT team, sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker said.He remained jailed without bail on Thursday.Homicide detectives want to question him about the body that was discovered.Authorities had been searching for Lomeli since Saturday, when a man called authorities to report he had been carjacked at the home, Slawson said.Investigators believe that Lomeli and Jenny Salazar, who both lived at the home, called the man to the house by saying they needed his truck to move some property.When he arrived, they asked to borrow the truck and told him they “needed to move a body or bodies, as the case may be,” Slawson said.When he refused, he was tied up and his truck was stolen, Slawson said.Salazar, 22, was arrested Monday for investigation of false imprisonment, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.She prompted a search of the property by telling investigators a body was buried in the backyard, Slawson said.She remained jailed Thursday on $250,000 bail.Slawson said investigators were looking into the possibility that the fire was set to destroy evidence.Other motives might be vandalism or a desire to get rid of a house neighbors claimed had been a hangout for drug addicts for decades, Slawson said.
