LOS ANGELES _ Los Angeles police were searching for a person of interest Wednesday morning after the bodies of three people were found in a home in the Leimert Park neighborhood the night before, authorities said.
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Division found the bodies of two men and one woman at a home on South Bronson Avenue after receiving a call about 8:20 p.m. Tuesday reporting a dead body, LAPD Officer Lizeth Lomeli said.
"We have someone who is outstanding that we'd like to contact regarding this homicide investigation, and we don't want to release too much information so that they have an alibi or an excuse as to where they were or what they were doing," LAPD Lt. Byron Roberts told reporters at the scene.
The house where the bodies were found sits in a quiet neighborhood behind a strip mall. On Wednesday, beneath overcast skies, about a dozen police officers gathered outside the beige, Spanish-style tract home.
Relatives huddled together behind yellow police tape, and a phalanx of reporters lined the opposite side.
The victims were a man in his 80s, a woman in her 70s and their son, who was in his 60s, KNBC-TV reported.
Authorities have not released the names or exact ages of the victims. Detectives remained at the scene Wednesday morning.
Relatives on Wednesday identified the dead as William Carter, his wife, Orsie Carter, and their son, Phillip White.
Nashun Carter, a great-niece of the elderly couple and a niece of White's, said that White lived in the Leimert Park house and that his parents lived in Baldwin Hills. White was trying to evict a woman who lived with him, and "his father and his mother came to try to help him ... get the lady out of the house, and I guess it went bad from there," she said.
Carter, 35, wept as she stood near the house. She said her sister had called her to tell her the news.
"I was lost for words because they are such good people," she said. "They are so strong. Believers in God and Jesus. ... You would never think nothing like this would ever happen to them."
William Carter was a retired truck driver for Vons, and his wife was a retired federal government employee, Nashun Carter said.
"She was amazing," Carter said of her great-aunt. "Real Christian. Big, big, big faith. When we first moved down here, she took us to church every Sunday, and she made sure we got closer to God."
White was a high school track star who, in 1970, placed in the top five in the state in the 200-meter dash, friends said. He would often reminisce about his days running track and playing football at nearby Tak's Coffee Shop on Crenshaw Boulevard.
Friends at Tak's on Wednesday recalled White as a kind, quiet man.
Ralph Tilley, a longtime friend, said White was a retired probation officer who was always there to help others in times of need.
It was because he was kindhearted that he let a friend who was down on her luck move in with him, rent-free, a month ago, Tilley said. The woman told White her plan was to move to Las Vegas, but she refused to leave.
White's mother called Tilley on Saturday to ask about the woman. Two days later, White told Tilley that he had the situation handled and that the woman had agreed to move out. The next night, he was dead.
"This is the worst thing I've ever heard," Tilley said. "I can't believe it. I'm still in shock."
