Rumors or Truth? Stories Spread about Death at the Alexandria
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — On September 12, an elderly man was found dead in his 5th floor room at the Hotel Alexandria. From that basic fact, a pair of stories begin to diverge. One is fantastic, the other ordinary.
Where better than the halls of the noirish 1904 hotel for such stories to start?
The rumor circulating the neighborhood is one of murder. A former Navy Seal was found dead in his room, struck with force. Traces of blood led from the elevator to the room, and drugs were possibly involved.
LAPD's story is a little different. Grant Divens, 73, was in poor health and may have fallen in his room, causing himself a nosebleed. Officers say there was no evidence of blunt force trauma, or of a drug deal gone bad. Divens lived alone, and officers do say evidence was found that he had been in the Marines.
But before Downtowners completely dismiss the rumors, they should note that LAPD says Divens' death has not been classified.
Ginny-Marie Case on October 01, 2009, at 09:06PM – #1
One afternoon I was at Weenez waiting to meet up with General Jeff to have lunch. I sat next to these two older ladies who were busy discussing this very death. They live in the building. The two were going on about how people knock on their door through out the night trying to coax them to either open the door or get them out of their room. They mentioned that when people knock on the door, the knockers say they are with the management company, and the two ladies know better than to open the door. The conversation went on and on about how they yell through the door for people to go away and that the ladies would go down to the managers office only to find out that no one from the management office came during the night to speak with them.
The two ladies were convinced something horrible happened to this man.
Benjamin Pezzillo on October 04, 2009, at 09:32PM – #2
It is not unknown for an elderly person found dead alone during flu season to have had death throes leaving a surface appearance of foul play that further examination then reveals to be a natural death. An autopsy will determine the cause.