Wilmington Couple Found Shot to Death

A Wilmington couple were fatally shot over the weekend as they gathered money for a holiday trip to their native Mexico, Los Angeles police said Sunday.

The bodies of Rutelio Ramirez, 42, and his wife, Rosa Maria, 37, were found Saturday afternoon in their van, which was parked about two miles from their home, according to Det. Rudy Lemos. The couple had apparently been heading to meet a co-worker to pick up some money or clothing they were owed before leaving the country today, Lemos said.

Police said there were no suspects as of Sunday afternoon.

“They left home and they never returned,” the detective said of the victims, who are survived by children ages 17, 13 and 8. Lemos said there is nothing “you can say to a family at this time to make them feel better. They’re just with other members of their family, some aunts and uncles, trying to stay as close as they can.”

The couple worked for more than a decade at Ramona’s Bakery in San Pedro; he was a baker and she put the icing on cakes, according to Jamie Cassillo, who was at the store Sunday.

“I don’t know how somebody could do that,” Cassillo said of the shooting.

She said the Ramirezes may have been on their way to get money from a bank--not a co-worker--when they disappeared.

The eldest daughter, Acelia Ramirez, reported her parents missing about 1 a.m. Saturday. Residents of the 1800 block of East M Street called police that afternoon to report a vehicle parked in their neighborhood, and the Ramirezes were soon found, each shot in the head, inside the van.