Local News in Brief : Son, 30, Sought in Slaying of Couple

Authorities were searching for a 30-year-old man who reportedly has a narcotics problem for questioning in the slayings of his mother and father in their Sierra Madre home.

The bodies of Doris Alice and John Henry Percell, both 61, were found Wednesday bound and gagged with bullet wounds in their heads in separate bedrooms in the home on Liliano Drive.

The bodies were discovered by Sierra Madre officers after persistent calls from the husband’s employer who insisted that Percell would not miss work without notification.

They were described as the “quintessential lovely family” by neighbors.

In their first attempt to check on the couple Tuesday, police were turned away when the son, Jeffrey Percell, 30, met them at the door and said his parents had gone to a hospital. The bodies were discovered on a third visit when the son was gone and police noticed a broken window and made entry.

Sheriff’s Lt. Ken Chausse said the couple “were apparently having problems” with their son “because of his narcotics condition and they had turned him in to local authorities.”