Saturday, March 17, 2018

Homeless family of 4 found dead in parked van in California

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — A homeless couple and their two young children, all dressed for bed, were found dead from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in a parked van that had its windows covered with blankets and a shade to block out the light outside a Southern California strip mall, police said Friday.

Garden Grove Police Lt. Carl Whitney said a man, a woman, a boy and girl were found inside the white Honda van outside a CVS store late Thursday after a woman reported a foul odor coming from the vehicle.

"They were in pajamas and sleeping gear and it looks like they were all asleep inside the van," Whitney said.

There were no signs of obvious trauma. The cause of death is still under investigation, but authorities suspect carbon monoxide poisoning based on their initial observations, Whitney said.

Both children appeared under the age of 2 and were still in diapers, he said.

On Friday the Orange County Coroner's office identified the man as Phunyouphone Kanyavong, 41. Authorities said they believe they know the identities of the others but will not release their names until they are confirmed through DNA and fingerprints.

Garden Grove police detectives said they have spoken with relatives of Kanyavong who told them they believe the woman and the children are his girlfriend and the couple's two children.

The case comes as Southern California grapples with a rise in homelessness amid soaring housing costs.

The family had been living in the van for some time and relatives were aware of the situation but the father did not seek help, Whitney said.

"What is tragic about this is we have our special resources teams that have connections to different resources," Whitney said. "We don't want these people living in their cars, and especially with small children. We want them to be off the streets for their own safety."

The family in the van had been dead for at least two or three days by the time police arrived and the van was not running, Whitney said.

A clerk at the CVS store declined to comment early Friday. The strip mall — which also has a tea house, shoe store, pizza shop and mobile phone retailer — is located at a busy intersection in the city of 175,000 people about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

PARDON MY LANGUAGE... THE FUCKING PROBLEM IS IF THEY WOULD HAVE SOUGHT HELP THE FUCKING BASTARD CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES DEPARTMENT WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE KIDS AND PKACED THEM INTO FOSTER CARE AND THEN ADOPTED THE KIDS OUT OVER AN 18 MONTH PERIOD WHILE STRINGING THE PARENTS ALONG THE ENTIRE TIME TO DO "SERVICES" AND AT THE END THE PARENTS STILL WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN THEIR CHILDREN RETURNED...

ITS A SAD SAD SAD STORY WITH ONLY ONE REAL TRUTH... THEY ARE NOW IN THE KINGDOM OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER AS A FAMILY AND TOGETHER, ETERNALLY THIS FAMILY IS BLESSED!!!

Likely, the parents were forced to hide-out and live in a car as I'm serious, Child Protection Services does nothing but LIE once they get the kids and continuously they lie even in court.

Unfortunately... In a corrupt governing society these things happen...

BECAUSE WE HAVE NO WHERE TO TURN!!!

WAKE UP... RISE UP... FOR AMERICA AND OUR CHILDREN... SAVE OUR FAMILIES NOW!!!

Thomas Klauss said...

CPS are child-traffickers and pedophiles

Unknown said...

Anyone who harms a child should immediately be extracted from the planet.