Getty heir, 47, found dead in his LA home

An officer stands outside a home in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Police say a man was found dead at the home of Andrew Getty, heir to Getty oil fortune.
An officer stands outside a home in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Police say a man was found dead at the home of Andrew Getty, heir to Getty oil fortune.

LOS ANGELES -- Getty oil fortune heir Andrew Getty was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home, his family confirmed Tuesday night.

Officers went to the gated home on Montcalm Avenue shortly after 2:15 p.m., when a woman called to report that someone had died. They found the man dead in a bathroom, police spokesman Jack Richter said.

Richter and other police officials would not immediately confirm media reports that the dead man was Getty, 47. His family later confirmed it was him in a statement issued through a family spokesman.

"The family has requested that members of the media and the public respect its privacy during this extremely difficult time," the family spokesman said.

Richter said Los Angeles County coroner's officials will determine how Getty died. Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department's robbery-homicide division were handling the case because of its high-profile nature, a law enforcement source said, on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The woman who called was interviewed by investigators but not arrested, Richter said. He said he did not know her identity.

Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the woman was cooperating with the investigation.

Just two weeks ago, Getty had sought a restraining order against a woman, according to court records. His attorney declined to comment.

Andrew Getty was one of four sons of Gordon Getty, a San Francisco multibillionaire who is among the richest men in the United States.

Getty's grandfather J. Paul Getty was an industrialist who founded Getty Oil Co. and was at one point named the richest living American by Fortune magazine. He had five sons and died in 1976 at age 82.

Another Getty grandson, J. Paul Getty III, died in 2011 at age 54.

J. Paul Getty III lost an ear in a grisly kidnapping in Rome when he was a teenager. The family reportedly stalled on paying a ransom, and the kidnappers cut off part of his ear, sending the severed organ part to a newspaper to prove they had taken him captive.

The 16-year-old was freed after five months in captivity and a payment of $2.7 million.

Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times.

A Section on 04/01/2015

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