Faxed tip triggers discovery of body

Police following an anonymous tip sent by fax to a television station found a dead woman in the trunk of her car Saturday, and are looking for the sender and two men alleged in the message to have been involved in the crime.

Officers discovered the body in a Valley Village neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley soon after being notified by KTLA-TV staff members about the faxed letter, Officer April Harding said. The sender described himself or herself only as “someone trying to help.”

The sender wrote that a woman was killed Feb. 28 and that her body was in a black trash bag in a car. The sender said the car would be within a 2-square-mile area of a specific address; police found it several blocks away on a shady residential street facing the U.S. 101 Freeway.

“She should be reported missing by her family,” according to the letter provided by KTLA.

The sender also named a suspect in the killing and another man who helped the suspect clean the car, Harding said.

The fax included the victim’s name, but police did not immediately release it or the cause of her death, pending notification of her relatives and an autopsy.

Houston

Barbara Bush out of intensive care

Former first lady Barbara Bush has been moved out of intensive care and into a private room at the Texas hospital where she underwent heart surgery.

The 83-year-old wife of former President George H.W. Bush had surgery Thursday to replace her aortic valve at Methodist Hospital in Houston.

After being moved to the private room Saturday, hospital spokeswoman Gale Smith said the former first lady could remain in the hospital for as long as another week.

Smith said Barbara Bush was up and walking Saturday morning and was eating and in good spirits.