Leads Sought in Fatal Beating of Woman, 72

He had warned his aunt a week ago that wearing her new $800 jade bracelet and $200 ring could make her a target. There are thieves, he would tell her, thieves who will see your jewelry and want to steal it.

“I told her this is not like Vietnam. You have to be careful,” Dien Van Phan recalled saying to Rop Do, 72, who immigrated from Vietnam a few months ago to be closer to her family, including her adult grandchildren.

Now, the Garden Grove man can’t help but think that someone who knew about the jewelry, a recent Mother’s Day gift, is responsible for Do’s death. The slight woman was found bound, gagged and beaten Wednesday afternoon inside her Fountain Valley home. She died at a hospital.

Police said Thursday that they haven’t disclosed a motive in the case, and won’t say whether the jewelry was missing. Phan said he doesn’t know either.

Detectives canvassed the neighborhood, interviewed neighbors and combed through the home for evidence.

Violent crimes are rare in the community. The city recorded two homicides in 1998. Neighbors said that minor crimes in recent months have forced some to take extra precautions--such as putting bars over their windows.

“Nothing really ever happens around here,” said Garth Dufield, 67, as he took a short break from playing solitaire on his personal computer.

Phan said his aunt was having trouble adjusting to her new life in America and had talked recently about returning to Vietnam in October. Do’s daughter and grandchildren were making funeral arrangements Thursday, Phan said.

The woman, who neighbors said rarely left her front porch, lived with her daughter, her 19-year-old grandson and her 22-year-old granddaughter in a rented house in the 11500 block of Iris Avenue. The grandmother was the only one home during the attack, police said.

Do was found about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when her grandson returned from school and discovered her in the bedroom, bound, gagged and beaten. The teenager called police. Paramedics transported the woman to a local hospital, where she died.

“It’s just so sad,” Phan said.