Detectives seek body in alleged killing

Hollywood homicide detectives were trying to sort out a mystery Monday at an upscale Hollywood Hills home in which a suspect has been arrested but no body has been found.

Detectives said they believe a shooting occurred May 27. But authorities were not called to the house for five days, when someone alerted the LAPD that a woman had been killed there.

After a day of interviews with residents of the house and neighbors, police arrested David Mahler, 43, on suspicion of murder.

Det. Wendy Berndt, the lead investigator in the case, said Mahler allegedly shot a woman at the home but that police cannot find her body. He is being held without bail at the County Jail.

“I have no doubt that murder charges will be filed in this case,” Berndt said. “We have direct evidence connecting” Mahler with this crime, she said.

The killing occurred in a sprawling, multilevel pink stucco home on Cole Crest Drive in an area of million-dollar houses.

Neighbors said police told them that the body had been moved out of the house, and said that authorities were reviewing video footage from nearby home surveillance cameras for clues.

On Monday, police requested the public’s help in identifying and locating the alleged victim. They said she is a blond in her late 30s, 5 feet 4 and 120 pounds, who was wearing black Spandex bike shorts and a tank top and may have been named Chrissie.

“We’re hoping either the detectives are going to get a lead on where the body is, or somebody from the public is going to call,” LAPD spokesman Kevin Maiberger said.

Detectives said the case is highly unusual. Police responded Friday to a 911 call from the residence about 12:30 a.m. reporting that a woman had been shot to death in the 8500 block of Cole Crest Drive. When police arrived at the house, several people there were detained for questioning.

But as police talked to witnesses, they discovered that the shooting actually had occurred days earlier. (Officials would not provide details of the physical evidence or witnesses’ statements).

A neighbor, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said someone who lives at the house told him a cleaner had been hired to work there at some point before police arrived.

“It’s a one-off thing, it’s a good neighborhood, generally,” a neighbor said. Police swarmed the area for about a day after they received the 911 call, conducting interviews and examining the area, the neighbor said.

Mahler is believed to be the landlord, although it is not clear whether he also owns the home. Neighbors said the bottom portion of the property had been rented out to a couple, while Mahler lived upstairs.

Anyone with information is asked to call Hollywood homicide detectives at (213) 972-2910 or (213) 972-2915 during business hours and (877) 529-3855 at other times.

tami.abdollah@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com