Coroner: Three Siblings Found in Azusa Fire Committed Suicide

The bodies of a man and two women found in a burned Azusa home were siblings who apparently entered into a suicide pact following the deaths of their parents.

George Alva, 53, his sisters Christine Alva, 47, and Barbara Alva, 49, were determined to have died from shotgun wounds to the head, according to the coroner’s office. Their bodies were found after Los Angeles County firefighters put out the blaze at their home at 525 N. Dalton Avenue in Azusa Dec. 6. Authorities said thousands of rounds of ammunition, firearms and gunpowder were also found inside the home.

The three were suffering from depression and mental illness, according to relatives. Their mother died seven years earlier and their father died earlier this year.

Their torched home was also in foreclosure, according to county records. Facing eviction, the three siblings were in the process of moving out the day they died.

The bodies of two dogs and two cats were also found at the scene.

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