Woman detained in mother-in-law's death after house fire

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (KABC) -- A woman has been detained as a person of interest in the death of her mother-in-law and for allegedly setting her mother-in-law's Diamond Bar house on fire.

Los Angeles County firefighters responded at about 1 a.m. to a house fire in the 1200 block of North Diamond Bar Boulevard. After a preliminary search, the cause of the fire could not be determined and no one was found inside.

During the investigation, police received a tip that a 42-year-old woman may have killed her mother-in-law and set the house on fire.

A tipster also told police where to find the woman's vehicle. Tustin police found her sitting inside a white minivan at Tustin Ranch Road and Greenway Drive. The woman was identified as the daughter-in-law of the victim and was taken into custody as a person of interest, sheriff's officials said.

Authorities said the vehicle was filled with many bags.

"Tustin received info that potentially the victim's remains were inside the vehicle. At this point, we haven't searched the interior. We see that there's a lot of property in there. We see a lot of plastic bags," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Eddie Hernandez said.

Sheriff's officials believe the victim's human remains were inside the bags.

The daughter-in-law's vehicle was towed to the Orange County Coroner's Office for closer examination.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.