Woman Whose Body Was Found in La Palma Home Was Slaying Victim

A woman whose badly decomposed body was found in a La Palma garage over the weekend was slain, authorities said Monday.

The body of Patricia Ann Dunthorne, 41, had been in the garage at least two weeks, police said. She was identified through dental records, said Capt. Eric Nunez, spokesman for the La Palma Police Department. He would not disclose the cause of death but said she had “obvious trauma to the head” and detectives were “convinced that the victim did die at the hands of another.”

Police were called to the home of her boyfriend, Frank Mallory, in the 5000 block of Shirley Drive on Saturday afternoon after his brother discovered the body, officials said.

Mallory, a longshoreman who works in Long Beach, declined to answer questions and obtained a lawyer, police said. He has not been named as a suspect, Nunez said.

Dunthorne’s mother, Pamela Tobin, said she had left messages on her daughter’s phone for several days. She said Dunthorne had a 12-year-old son.

Mallory bought the two-story home in 2001, and neighbors said Dunthorne moved in last year.

David Gutierrez, a longshoreman who has worked with Mallory, said the couple were rarely seen together, only when she drove him to and from work because his license was suspended.

Gutierrez said he asked Mallory a week ago about Dunthorne’s whereabouts.

“He said his girlfriend was gone to Utah and she wasn’t returning his calls,” Gutierrez said.