Realty Rival Sought for Questioning in Killing of Seal Beach Broker

The search for the killer of a successful Long Beach real estate broker who was shot in the head and stuffed in the trunk of her car centered Saturday on a rival broker who disappeared the day of the slaying, authorities said.

Vicente Lapid OCampo, 45, was being sought by police for questioning in the shooting death of Arlene Lee Chee of Seal Beach, who was found Thursday night in the trunk of her Mercedes-Benz just a few blocks from OCampo’s Long Beach office.

Police and family members said Chee, 46, disappeared Wednesday after leaving her realty office for a noon appointment with OCampo.

Chee, owner of Century 21 Fortune Realty in Long Beach, was found by members of her family Thursday shortly after 9 p.m.

Family Members Searched

About 30 members of the family had fanned out across Long Beach looking for the small, quiet women until her white Mercedes-Benz coupe was found on Fashion Avenue.

A family member flagged down a police car, and an officer opened the trunk, where Chee was found. She had been shot once in the head, police said.

OCampo worked with Chee before starting his own brokerage firm, Realty One, about 6 years ago. Long Beach Detective Ron Pavek would reveal few details about the case, except to say he was seeking an arrest warrant for OCampo.

May Have Argued

Police said earlier that OCampo and Chee may have been arguing over a real estate agent who had left OCampo’s office to go to work for Chee 2 weeks ago. That employee, identified by family members as Corine Bolden, could not be reached for comment.

At OCampo’s Realty One office in Long Beach, the telephone went unanswered Saturday, and OCampo’s wife could not be reached for comment.

Gerardo OCampo, the suspect’s brother and a real estate agent on the west side of Long Beach, said only that he was “shocked. I cannot make any presumptions. What can I say?”

Manolita OCampo, the suspect’s wife, met with Pavek and other investigators Saturday morning but said she had no idea where her husband had gone.

“The last Mrs. OCampo saw of her husband was at work on Wednesday,” said Leonard Matsuk, the OCampo family lawyer. “She is quite upset and disturbed that he is missing. She has satisfied the police officers that she knows nothing about what has occurred. She is more than happy to cooperate, but unfortunately she doesn’t know much.

“Unless and until Mr. OCampo is arrested or surfaces, we are not sure what his plans are.”

Matsuk said the suspect’s wife knew nothing about a dispute between Chee and her husband.

“We understood that he was on friendly terms with the victim,” Matsuk said. “It appears to me that Mrs. OCampo didn’t keep current with the day-to-day affairs of the business. Apparently Mr. OCampo didn’t feel it was necessary.”

Jim Minks, a broker in Chee’s Long Beach office for the past 6 years, said he had talked to Bolden Thursday night and that she did not know anything about Chee’s death. He said Bolden joined Century 21 Fortune Realty because there was not enough business at OCampo’s office.

$30 Million in Sales

On the other hand, Minks said, Chee’s Long Beach office had received a special citation from Century 21 for doing $30 million in sales last year.

Minks called Chee “very businesslike but very kind and giving. You couldn’t ask for a better person to work for. I can’t even sleep at night thinking about it. We were close friends. Everyone is very upset about this.”

As police searched for OCampo, members of the extended Chee family gathered at the victim’s house and at the realty office to mourn their loss and make funeral arrangements.

“We are just kind of regrouping now,” said Alan Chee, the victim’s brother-in-law. Alan Chee met with some of the real estate agents who worked for the victim Saturday morning and told them that “it is business as usual.”

“It’s a normal workday,” he said. “Life goes back to normal. We are just trying to put the place back together now. Her husband (Eugene Chee) has talked to all the (real estate) agents.”

Alan Chee described his sister-in-law, who had four children, was “a very dynamic person and very well liked. She built this business from the grass roots. The office is one of the best in Long Beach--residential, apartments and income property.”

Chee said the family had been told by police that OCampo was a suspect and that there was speculation that OCampo may have been angry because the victim had lured Bolden over to her office.

“But we just don’t know for sure, and I don’t want to second-guess anything,” he said. “I can only speculate, but we heard it was something about an agent. I’m very anxious to find out what this Vic OCampo has to say.”

He said the victim’s four children were “not doing real well because they are in grief. But they are strong and they will come out of it.”

Matsuk, the OCampo family lawyer, said he had heard reports that OCampo had a quick temper but “I don’t know anything of that. He was a successful real estate broker in Long Beach and he had several agents working for him. He had a couple of minor scrapes that have been cleared up, but nothing extraordinary. I didn’t know that he had a temper.”