FBI joins probe of remains in S.F. house
Residents in the Outer Mission neighborhood where human remains were found had few answers Wednesday on what might have led to the gruesome discovery this week.
San Francisco police received a report Monday that 73-year-old Benedict Ching was possibly missing from his home on the 100 block of Del Monte Street. Police confirmed human remains were found at the home, and a source told The Chronicle that officers found a body dismembered at the residence.
FBI agents are assisting city homicide investigators, said Prentice Danner, an agency spokesman. Four people in white hazmat suits went inside the home Wednesday.
Ching lived in the home for decades, and neighbor Richard Maldonado said he remembered seeing a woman and a child living there, too, a long time ago.
“He seemed very nice, but I really didn’t
know anything about him,” Maldonado said, adding that he and Ching would say hello in passing.
Ching lived alone in recent years until a family — a woman, a man and two children — began frequenting his house several months ago, neighbors said.
The stretch of Del Monte is a residential area filled with pastelcolored homes.
It’s “one of the few nice, quiet blocks left,” Maldonado said.
Police tape stretched around Ching’s home and neighboring residences Wednesday, where a couple of officers stood outside by their patrol cars.
Police rarely come to the area, neighbor Drew Quiambal said.
“It’s crazy,” Quiambal said of Ching’s death. “It’s mostly seniors, not a lot of younger people here.”
Neighbors stood at the ends of their driveways, peering down the street, and drivers passing by rubbernecked to catch a glimpse of the scene.
“This is awful,” said Danielle Perronet Chang, who has lived at the intersection leading to Ching’s house for more than 10 years. “I’m very sad for the family of this poor man.”
Experts say chopping up a body requires a special type of depravity. It’s a strenuous task that’s almost always done to hide evidence in a way even the most hardened criminals can rarely stomach.
The Del Monte street death is the latest dismembered body case San Francisco police have probed in the past year.
Last summer, the headless body of 65year-old city resident Brian Egg was found decomposing in a fish tank full of chemicals in his South of Market home. The medical examiner’s office determined he died from “unspecific homicidal violence with blunt trauma.”
Two suspects were arrested but later released after the district attorney’s office declined to file charges, citing the need for further investigation.
Also last year, in the Mission District, police went to check on San Francisco resident Maggie Mamer, 61, who was reported missing. They found her body dismembered and stuffed into a plastic storage tub.
Her roommate, 47year-old Lisa Gonzales, was charged with murder. Prosecutors said she had been trying to get Mamer to move out, but the victim stayed put. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty.
Anyone with information about the Del Monte case may call the San Francisco police tip line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, beginning the message with “SFPD.” Callers may remain anonymous.