An arrest has been made in connection with the death of a person whose burned remains were found near a Home Depot in the Cypress Park section of Los Angeles, police said Tuesday.





Investigators said they believe the victim, whose name has not been released, had been chopped up and transported in a suitcase on a Metro Gold Line train from a shuttered Pasadena restaurant where the victim was killed and dismembered.

Officers responded to a report of a body on fire at 1:53 a.m. Thursday at 2055 N. Figueroa St., according to an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division.

Arson and homicide detectives were summoned to the scene, police said.

The 56-year-old suspect, identified as Valentino Gutierrez, was arrested Friday and is being held in lieu of $2 million bail, according to online inmate records.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office reported that the dead person's gender could not be immediately determined, but according to Channel 4, investigators have an idea of who the victim is.


A person who knows the suspect told local media that Gutierrez was staying at a homeless shelter and that she believed the victim was his girlfriend.

The suspect was tracked down using surveillance video from the area where the remains were dumped, the station reported.

The report identified the restaurant as Dona Rosa Bakery and Taqueria at 577 S.Arroyo Parkway.

Copyright 2018 FOX 11 Los Angeles : Download our mobile app for breaking news alerts or to watch FOX 11 News | Follow us on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram and YouTube .