The 70-year-old daughter of the man who founded Budget Rent a Car was the apparent victim of a home invasion on Thursday in which she was assaulted and strangled, authorities said.
Police officers arrived at her Hollywood Hills home in Los Angeles and learned that the attackers had left the woman inside after allegedly smashing her jaw and choking her.
Property records obtained by NBC Los Angeles confirmed Margaux Mirkin owns the home in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood.
The full extent of the crime remains unclear, but police said the robbers stole cash and jewelry from the home. Neighbors said some of the jewelry belonged to the woman’s late husband, who died in a house fire two years ago, the station reported.
“She’s pretty shaken up, as anyone would be after being assaulted in your home and watching your valuables get stolen and driven away,” Kristen Stavola, executive director of the community nonprofit We Are Laurel Canyon, told NBC Los Angeles.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified said the street is “dark” and a “dead-end street.”
“Not many people are on it, so of course it’s like the perfect street for a break-in,” the neighbor said.
NBC Los Angeles reported that the robbers dropped a bag containing a large amount of jewelry while leaving the home. When a neighbor saw them and shined a flashlight in their direction, they took off.
The Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division, which investigates the city's most high-profile cases, is handling the investigation.
