Family of three all found dead at home from Covid

Police visited the home after the family wasn’t heard from for days

Medical examiners have ruled it was Covid that killed a father and his two adult daughters in December, after their unexplained deaths shook a quiet Southern California community.

Philip Ramirez, 87; Diane Ramirez, 58; and Susan Ramirez, 49, all died from Covid, with other contributing conditions, according to the Ventura County medical examiner’s office.

The trio were discovered on 16 December, after family members were unable to reach them, and Diane’s employer asked a sheriff’s deputy to perform a welfare check at their home, which went unanswered.

Police initially considered the deaths suspicious, though they found no signs of forced entry or trauma at the scene of the deaths.

“It’s an unusual call for us because typically, there’s something that points to murder or suicide, and this just is not the case,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Wendell Campbell said at the time.

Neighbours in their area of Oak Park, who hadn’t seen the three in days, were all shocked to learn the Ramirez family was dead.

“It’s safe, family-oriented, best school district” Brain Thompson, a local resident, told KTLA in December. “It’s just so odd, It’s a quiet, very tight knit community.”

Given the initial uncertainty about what happened, emergency crews tested their two-story home for levels of oxygen, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and natural gas, but ruled out a gas leak. Utility companies also tested appliances and the home’s heating system, and similarly found no problems.

The last time all three were known to be alive was 11 December, reports the Ventura County Star, when a family member spoke to someone in the household and heard the three had been having fever, cough, and other flu symptoms. The family knew at least one member of the household – where Diane, Philip, and Susan had separate rooms – had tested positive for Covid-19.

On 12 February, the medical examiner confirmed the three died of Covid, although Diane and Susan also had obesity as a secondary cause of death, while Philip had hypertension, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease as contributing factors.

In mid-December, at the time the Ramirez family members died, Ventura County was averaging about 140 new Covid cases a day, although virus levels shot up to an all-time high by mid-January, suggesting a high level of transmission within the community coinciding with the holidays and the Omicron surge.