Woman, 53, Daughter, 22, Beaten to Death : Killings: Their bodies ar found in a car trunk at their secluded Walnut home by the woman’s husband. No arrests have been made.

Sheriff’s homicide detectives late Saturday were searching for the ex-boyfriend of a young woman who was found dead along with her mother in the trunk of a family car at their home in a secluded equestrian section of Walnut.

A Sheriff’s Department spokesman said Robert Greig found the bodies of his wife, Rose, 53, and daughter, Melitta, 22, after returning from work to the family home in the 400 block of South Camino de Gloria.

Investigators late Saturday found Melitta’s gray 1989 Volkswagen Cabriolet convertible. The car with its personalized license plate ATTILEM (Melitta spelled backward), behind a Motel 6 near the Pomona Freeway in Rowland Heights shortly after 8 p.m. Authorities declined to relese further details about the car.

Colleagues and friends had searched for Rose Greig when she failed to return after abruptly leaving St. Martha’s Church in La Puente after receiving a phone call about 12:15 p.m. Friday.

Frequent calls to relatives and neighbors failed to find her, said Father Bill Leser, pastor of St. Martha’s, where Rose Greig worked as Leser’s secretary and parish bookkeeper. Leser said he believed that Melitta had called her away. “She said she’d be right back,” he added.

If there was a problem at home, “Rose would have gone and solved it. She was that type of mother,” Leser said. “She was a mother bear that would just jump into a problem and solve it. She was a very loving, very caring person. Unflappable.”

In addition to her regular duties, she was bookkeeper of the church’s effort to organize a new parish in Walnut. She handled books for her husband’s business, a lunch truck that catered to farm workers. She also spent hours each week helping her elderly mother and father, who live in Walnut.

Melitta’s failure to appear for her 4 p.m. shift at the Fullerton movie theater prompted her employer and friends to search for her as well. Montoya said his wife, Linda, visited the home at Leser’s request and found no sign of mother or daughter.

When Robert Greig arrived home from work after midnight, a neighbor told him that his wife and daughter appeared to be missing, friends said. Attempts to reach Greig earlier in the day were unsuccessful, Leser said.

After searching the home, investigators said, Greig entered the garage, noticed several blood spots at the rear of the family car and opened the trunk. Sheriff’s investigators said the women had been bludgeoned.

“He was in shock, his face drained of blood,” Montoya said of Greig.

Authorities believe the murders took place in the afternoon.

Montoya described his neighborhood as close-knit.

With their secluded private drive and shared interest in horses, “we’re not like a normal neighborhood. We’re more like a family,” Montoya said. “We’re all up here, we’re all scared. We all want to know why. It’s without reason.

“If it’s a random thing, then it’s scary. You don’t know if it’s going to happen again.”

Leser described the staff at St. Martha’s as a family.

“Today,” he said, “everybody’s just sitting around crying.”