A UCLA sorority coed whose body was found at the scene of an apartment fire in Westwood was murdered, various reports have confirmed.
A Los Angeles Police Department detective told a TV station the death was being investigated as a homicide, and that followed such reports from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office as well as other police reports.
Andrea DelVesco, a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, was found after firefighters were sent to the 10900 block of Roebling Avenue at 7:05 a.m. Monday, the first day of UCLA’s fall quarter.
In a statement obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Jacquie Medeiros, president of the sorority’s UCLA chapter, said DelVesco was “a friend to every person she met…,” to whom she was known as “Andy.”
The victim has not been publicly identified by authorities. According to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, which reported that the death was being investigated as a possible homicide before the Los Angeles Police Department put a security hold on the case, the student’s badly burned body would likely take a while to positively identify.
Meanwhile, grief counselors were made available at UCLA.
“On behalf of the entire UCLA community, I extend our deepest condolences to her family and friends,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “UCLA is a close-knit community, and this tragic event affects us all.”
Firefighters who responded to the blaze were told someone might still be inside the burning apartment. But despite and aggressive attack and search, the student was “beyond medical help” when found, Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
The cause of the fire, which was extinguished in about 15 minutes, was under investigation, he said. Detectives were investigating whether the woman died in or before the fire.
The Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper, reported that she was entering her fourth year at UCLA and was studying psychology and Spanish.
—City News Service