The family of an 81-year-old woman found her burned body in what police believe was a home invasion robbery in Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, reports Fox11.
Loved ones went to the home after becoming concerned that they had not heard from her on Tuesday.
The call came into police as “dead body possibly arson involved.”
“It’s generally a quiet neighborhood. [It’s] upper middle class, so a crime like this that’s violent is pretty unusual for this neighborhood,” said LAPD Det. Sharon Kim.
The victim has been identified as Ok Ja Kim. Authorities speculate she may have been targeted because elderly Koreans often have a lot of cash on them.
NBC4 reports that police arrived to find evidence of a forced entry.
“I’m really asking for the public’s help on this one because that might be the only way we’re going to solve this,” said Detective Kim to reporters.
Authorities are investigating this as a homicide investigation.
“I’m so sorry for them, but I’m scared too,” said Nazak Mandi, a neighbor to Fox 11. “We never heard about anything like that.”
“These perpetrators are the worse animals in the world. I can show you that man is the only animal on this planet that can be cruel to its own kind,” said another neighbor, Art, to NBC4.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
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I would like to express my extreme sadness about the death of victim Ok Ja Kim.
I would additionally like to dissuade anyone, especially a police official from perpetuating the myth that citizens of Asian ethnicity carry large amounts of cash on their person or in their homes. This type of careless and reckless comment is what paints targets on the backs of every Asian Citizen.