Body identified as woman murdered by son-in-law

Medical examiners have confirmed that a body found last year in an Oakland estuary has been identified as that of a missing California woman whose son-in-law is suspected of killing her and her daughter. The police in San Pablo, California announced this on Tuesday.

Que Tran, 74, and her daughter Tho Ly, 40, were reported missing on September 13 by Phuc Vo, 40. Vo told police that the women left their Bay Area home after a family dispute and were heading to Southern California, San Pablo police said in March.

Detectives reported that during their investigation they discovered inconsistencies in Vo’s statements, including his story to officers that Ly left the house that day in her car, according to Tuesday’s news release. Detectives said they discovered surveillance video that showed Vo driving Ly’s missing car, which was eventually found on Dec. 5 in Oakland.

“He was actually seen getting into the car and driving away… moving the car and parking it in a different location,” the San Pablo police officer said. Peggy Chou told KRON-TV in San Francisco in March.

Vo was arrested in February. The Contra Costa County district attorney charged him with two counts of special circumstance murder after detectives alleged he was “directly involved in the disappearance and murders.”

Jazmin Rosillo, one of the victims’ neighbors, told Oakland KTVU TV in March that she often saw the two women gardening in their yard, but sensed something was wrong after they disappeared.

Rosillo told the station at the time that the couple had a young daughter and son. She added that the boy told her that his mother was missing and that his parents were arguing.

According to KTVU, investigators believed an argument over money may have led to the women’s disappearance.

Trans’s body was discovered in the Oakland Estuary in late September, but DNA evidence did not confirm the identity until March, a police statement said. Ly’s remains are still missing.