Woman Found Stabbed To Death In Closet Of NoHo Home Identified

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA — Authorities identified a woman found stabbed to death in the closet of her North Hollywood apartment over the weekend.

Los Angeles County coroner's officials identified the victim as 48-year-old Tanya Menchaca. Her blood-spattered husband was later found passed out on the Foothill (210) Freeway and arrested on suspicion of murdering her, according to police.

Police were called to the apartment at 11000 block of Tiara Street just before 2 a.m. Saturday where they found the grisly crimes scene, according to Sgt. J. Murphy of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station. A trail of blood led to the body. The woman's children were still in the apartment unaware their mother had been murdered.

"They discovered a blood trail leading up to a bedroom," Murphy said. That' where they found Menchaca dead inside a closet.

Officers then searched the apartment and found three children unharmed, he said. They were taken to the LAPD's North Hollywood police station.

The woman's husband was found later in the day by Azusa police on the Foothill (210) Freeway "covered in blood and passed out," Murphy said. He was taken into custody. Police have yet to release his name.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.