Darleene Barrientos
Apartment 109 was silent Friday, but an answering machine continued
to cheerfully invite callers to leave a message at the tone.
Family and friends of the apartment's occupants mourned the deaths
of Vrezh Khudabakhshyan, 52; his wife, Klarisa Petrosian, 56; and
their son, Armond Khudabakshyan, 20. They lived together in the 600
block of East Olive Avenue.
The family apparently got lost on the way to Altadena and died in
a fiery crash about 10 a.m. Thursday after the car they were
traveling in missed a curve in the 1400 block of Glen Oaks Boulevard
in Pasadena and plunged several hundred feet down a steep hillside,
authorities said. The car reportedly ignited on impact, and it took
several hours for crews to recover the bodies, which were burned
beyond recognition, according to a Pasadena Police Department press
release.
It was unclear late Friday who was driving the 1989 Honda Accord,
Pasadena Police Lt. Tom Pederson said.
Investigators believe the family was taking what they thought was
a shortcut through the hills when they got lost, according to news
reports.
"There are winding, narrow roads up there," Pederson said.
Family members gathered at the home of Petrosian's sister Friday
afternoon. Her cheeks streaked with dried tears and her eyes
red-rimmed from crying, Alfrida Khudabakshyan, the couple's adult
daughter, declined to speak at length about her family.
"We just found out last night," she said. "We had to make sense of
it the whole day."
The manager of the apartment building where the family lived
described Petrosian as a lovely lady.
"She was very, very pretty," Jo Bacchetta said. "She was a very
good tenant.
"It's terrible. I saw it on the news, but I never dreamed that
[they were from] my building."
Allan Vardanyan worked with Vrezh Khudabakhshyan at NV Trucking at
1800 N. Kenneth Road, and like several of Khudabakhshyan's
co-workers, he was shocked to hear the news.
"He was a very nice person," Vardanyan said. "I don't know what to
say. The time I spent with him, he was a very happy person."
