Are deaths of 2 models in DTLA related? LAPD reveals latest on investigation
LOS ANGELES - The cases of two models who were found dead in their downtown Los Angeles apartments just two days apart are not related, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday.
According to police, there is no evidence so far to suggest the deaths of 31-year-old Maleesa Mooney and 32-year-old Nichole Coats are connected to each other.
Officials did not release either woman's cause of death as both remain active investigations.
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On Sept. 12, authorities found Mooney dead in her apartment located in the 200 block of South Figueroa Street. According to the LAPD, Mooney was murdered inside her apartment.
Two days prior on Sept. 10, the body of Coats was found inside her apartment in the 700 block of Grand Avenue. Officers had responded to Coats' home to perform a welfare check around 10 a.m., but no one responded. Around two hours later, someone called to report a dead body at the home.
In a previous interview with FOX 11, Coats' aunt expressed doubt if the two cases were connected and said there was something very strange about Mooney's death, two days after Coats.
"Both girls were models… the similarities are there," said May Stevens-Clay. "They both lived in the same neighborhood."
Anyone with additional information is urged to call Detective Pierce or Marcinek, Los Angeles
Police Department, Central Bureau Homicide Division, at (213) 996-4150.