Man Drives 400 Miles, Tells Police Where to Find 2 Bodies

SAN JOSE — The bodies of a woman and her young son were discovered in an apartment here after her boyfriend drove nearly 400 miles to Garden Grove and reported he had found them dead, officials said.

The boyfriend, Khanh Quoc La, 26, of Garden Grove, told police he drove to San Jose because he was worried about his girlfriend, who was not answering the phone. When La arrived at her apartment, he let himself in with a key and found the bodies, he told police.

“Once he shook her and realized she wasn’t waking up, he got scared and was afraid someone might still be there,” Westminster Police Lt. Bob Burnett said.

La then drove to Orange County, where he notified police. San Jose officials were immediately called and went to the woman’s apartment, where they found the victims.

Neither the woman nor the child, who is believed to be between 2 and 5 years old, was immediately identified by police.

Burnett said he didn’t find it surprising that La drove all the way to Orange County before reporting the slayings.

“Probably that’s the best he could think of (to do) at the time,” Burnett said. “His reaction was, he said, that he was afraid someone would kill him..”

Neighbors of the slain woman said she was a Vietnamese immigrant who was a manicurist at a local salon. She was divorced and had two other children who may have lived with her ex-husband, they said.