The husband of a Lomita woman who has been missing for 16 months and is presumed dead attempted suicide Wednesday morning by jumping off a cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said.

David Viens, 47, was being followed by deputies at the time of the incident, investigators said. He was in critical condition and will be charged with murder if he survives, Lt. Dave Coleman said.

Viens was the subject of a Daily Breeze article Wednesday that reported he is a "person of interest" in his wife's disappearance and likely homicide. Dawn Viens hasn't been seen since Oct. 18, 2009. Investigators say her husband never reported her missing.

The Breeze reported that investigators found spattered blood on the walls inside his former home on Oak Avenue.

David Viens fell 80 feet from the cliffs near the Point Vicente Interpretive Center while he was evading deputies, authorities said. He was rescued by firefighters and sheriff's deputies.

He was taken by helicopter to Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance.

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Sheriff’s investigators found the remains of a second body at a suspected "drug house" in Lennox on Saturday, four days after unearthing the body of the 53-year-old homeowner.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Edmundo Hummel said the unidentified remains were found about 3:45 p.m. Saturday at the house in the 4800 block of West 112th Street. 

The first body, found Tuesday, was identified as James Daniel Stein, 53. He and his wife had been missing. Authorities could not confirm whether the second body was hers.

The Sheriff’s Department describes Marcos Lomeli, 26, as a person of interest in the case. He is in custody on unrelated charges of robbery and carjacking, Hummel said.

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The body found buried in the backyard of a Lennox “drug house” was identified Thursday as that of the homeowner, who was reported missing in December, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said.

James Daniel Stein, 53, was identified two days after his body, wrapped in cloth and plastic, was unearthed from the yard. His autopsy was pending Thursday, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said.

Stein's wife, Gabriela Stein, who was last seen in January, remained missing.

Detectives first visited the house in the 4800 block of 112th Street at Inglewood Avenue late Monday when a resident, Jenny Salazar, 22, told them at least one body was buried there.

Marcos Lomeli, 26, identified as the woman’s ex-boyfriend, was arrested Wednesday night for false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. He and Salazar were occasional renters at the Lennox house, deputies said.

Salazar was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and was being held on $100,000 bail.

Arson investigators were trying to determine Thursday what caused a fire at a Lennox "drug house" where human remains were found buried in the backyard.

Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department searched the home on the 4800 block of 112th Street but had not released any information about the fire, said Det. Wayne Scott.

A man’s body was dug up in the backyard on Tuesday, and later authorities learned a male resident had reportedly been beaten and tied up by a couple who took his truck to move a dead body.

The Lennox house caught fire Wednesday night just hours after a suspect in the case, Marcos Lomeli,26, was arrested and held for questioning.

The homeowner James Stein, 53, was reported missing in December, and his wife, Gabriela, was last seen in early January. The couple are still officially considered missing.

The man’s body had not yet been identified, authorities said. Authorities have said the house was used to deal drugs.

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L.A. County Sheriff's detectives were searching Thursday for a man who kidnapped a 14-year-old girl at the Green Line station in Hawthorne and sexually assaulted her.

The man allegedly grabbed the girl about 9 p.m. Saturday as she was walking up a stairwell at the station in the 11900 block of South Crenshaw Boulevard and forced her to go down the stairs with him into a red compact car.

He drove for about 10 minutes, parked in an alley and forced her to go inside a townhouse with him, where he sexually assaulted her and attempted to rape her, sheriff's officials said.

The girl managed to escape and reported the incident to law enforcement.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arson squad responded Wednesday night to a fire that broke out at a Lennox house where a body was unearthed in the backyard, officials said.

The blaze broke out at the house in 4800 block of West 112th Street and was engulfed in flames when the first fire engine arrived, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

The blaze was knocked down in about 20 minutes. Afterward, an arson unit was requested to respond to the scene.

A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the death of a man whose body was found buried in the backyard at a Lennox house, authorities said Wednesday night.

Marcos Lomeli, 26, was apprehended Wednesday afternoon at a motel in the 4300 block of Rosemead Boulevard in Pico Rivera after detectives pursued leads developed in the case, said Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies surrounded the motel about 2 p.m while a sheriff's SWAT team negotiated with Lomeli, who surrendered peacefully about 30 minutes later, Parker said.

Earlier in the day, investigators were digging for a second body that may be buried at the house on West 112th street but stopped their search because of the rain.

A team of coroner's investigators began digging in the backyard Tuesday morning after receiving a report that a body may have been buried there. The body of an adult male was recovered, said Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.

Investigators said the body appears to be that of James Stein, 53, who owns the house. Stein was reported missing in mid-December. His wife, Gabriela, was reported missing in January, according to investigators.

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The hunt for a second body possibly buried in the backyard of a Lennox "drug house" was halted Wednesday, the day after the remains of an male adult were unearthed in the yard, investigators said.

The ongoing search was suspended because of rainy weather, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Thomas.

Detectives first visited the house in the 4800 block of 112th Street at Inglewood Avenue late Monday when a resident, Jenny Salazar, 22, told them at least one body was buried behind the house, deputies said.

Marcos Lomeli, 26, identified as the woman’s ex-boyfriend, is wanted for false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. Both were occasional renters at the Lennox house, deputies said.

Salazar, who reported the body, was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and is being held on $100,000 bail.

Digging continued Wednesday in the backyard of a Lennox house where investigators discovered a man's body buried.

After exhuming the body Tuesday, Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators said a second body may be buried on the property. The investigation is ongoing, said Sgt. Brian Thomas of the Sheriff's Department.

Detectives went to the rundown property in the 4800 block of West 112th Street and Inglewood Avenue Monday night when a woman named Jenny Salazar told them at least one body was buried at the home, Thomas said.

Marcos Lomeli, Salazar's ex-boyfriend, is being sought by authorities in the case, officials said.

The body found Tuesday may that of James Stein, 53, the owner of the house, authorities said. Stein's mother reported him missing Dec. 17, and his wife, Gabriela, has been missing since January, police said.

Authorities had previously described the property as a "drug house."

Information on the exhumed body has not been released, said Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.

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Image: Summary of crimes in Lennox from July 12, 2010 to Jan. 9, 2011. Credit: Mapping L.A.

Five people were injured early Wednesday in an apartment fire in Gardena, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The fire broke out shortly before 1 a.m. in an apartment near Redondo Beach Boulevard and Wilkie Avenue, said fire department dispatcher Andre Gougis. Firefighters put out the blaze in 20 minutes.

Paramedics took five burn victims to a hospital. One man in his 40s was in critical condition, Gougis said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

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