Son sought after house fire kills man, woman

Diamond Bar blaze’s cause not yet known, but neighbors say son had acted erratically.

Homicide investigators are searching for a man believed to be the son of a Diamond Bar couple whose house went up in flames early Friday, leaving two people and a dog dead, officials said.

The fire at the two-story house in the 3600 block of Crooked Creek Drive was reported at 4:45 a.m. Smoke and flames were visible from the second story when fire crews arrived, and the blaze quickly spread through the entire house, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Tony Imbrenda said.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze by 5:18 a.m. and found the bodies of both victims and their dog in a downstairs bedroom, authorities said.

They were described as a man and woman between the ages of 65 and 70, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department. Emergency personnel initially reported finding three bodies.

A third person was known to live at the location but was not home at the time of the fire, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Authorities are searching the area to find the person and “determine his involvement,” according to a news release.

Officials have not been able to positively identify the two people killed in the fire because of the condition of the bodies, Lt. John Corina of the Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau said. But John Venti, 75, and his wife, Linda, 66, had lived at the home with their 33year-old son, Ryan, Corina said.

Ryan was not home at the time of the fire, said Corina, who added that police are actively searching for him.

“We’re told the son suffers from mental issues, so that’s a possibility,” Corina said.

Neighbors told investigators that Ryan Venti’s behavior had become more erratic in recent months, Corina said. There had not been previous reports of the man trying to harm his family, said Corina, who added that sheriff’s deputies had not received any 911 calls from the home in years.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Corina said investigators obtained a search warrant Friday afternoon and were about to go into the home.

The victims were probably sleeping at the time of the fire, and Imbrenda said the home did not have working smoke detectors.

‘We’re told the son suffers from mental issues, so that’s a possibility.’ — Lt. John Corina, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department’s Homicide Bureau, on search for 33-year-old Ryan Venti