Local police are investigating a deadly fire in one of Washington’s poshest neighborhoods on Thursday that killed four people near the vice president’s residence and Embassy Row.
The three-story, $4.5 million-dollar house was allegedly set ablaze, killing a couple — Savvas Savopoulos, 46, and his wife Amy Savopoulos, 47; their son, Philip, 10; and one of the family’s housekeepers, Veralicia Figueroa, 47, according to police.
Three of the four victims were found to have suffered from blunt force trauma, causing authorities to rule the fire arson and police are investigating what they call a quadruple homicide.
The victims were found inside a Woodland Drive home after fire crews arrived to put out a house fire there about 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Also raising suspicions is a text message sent to a second housekeeper, Nelitza Gutierrez, that arrived three hours before the fire began.
“I am making sure you do not come today,” Gutierrez was told by the wife who died in Thursday’s alleged arson.
The day before, Gutierrez had received a voicemail from Savvas Savopoulos telling her not to come the following day because his wife was sick.
“Sometimes you never understand why something happens, but I’m lucky I’m still here,” Gutierrez told CNN’s Joe Johns.
The couple has two daughters attending out-of-state boarding school, neighbors said, according to The Associated Press.
Savvas Savopoulos was the president of American Iron Works, a building materials manufacturer based in Hyattsville, Maryland, according to the AP.
Police say they do not yet have evidence of a forced entry into the home on the 3200 block of Woodland Drive, N.W. They did release a video this weekend though of a person of interest who seems to be taking the couple’s blue Porsche 911 — with tags DK 2418 — from the scene of the crime. The car was later torched in a Maryland church parking lot.
Authorities are seeking help from the public to assist with the investigation, offering a reward of up $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.