FULLERTON, Calif. — Two men arrested in the killings of a California couple were friends with the victims' teenage daughter and attended "furry" events where some participants dress up in colorful animal costumes, according to friends and their social media pages.
Jennifer Yost, 39, and her husband, Christopher Yost, 34, were found dead in their Fullerton home along with family friend Arthur "Billy" Boucher, 28.
Police were summoned to the home Saturday morning by the couple's 6-year-old daughter. She was not harmed, nor was her 9-year-old sister.
Melinda Giles said she became friends with Jennifer Yost after meeting her and her 17-year-old daughter, Katlynn Goodwill Yost, last year at a gathering of "furries."
She said she also saw Frank Felix, 25, and Joshua Acosta, 21 — who have been arrested for investigation of the murders — at furry events, and had met Felix at the Yost family home.
She said Jennifer Yost told her several weeks ago that she had forbidden Felix from seeing her daughter.
"To protect her daughter, Chris and Jenn were like, 'We don't want you to be friends with our daughter anymore,'" Giles said Monday, adding that the couple was warm, generous and recently helped her move into her new home. "It is really sad because they didn't deserve that. Those little girls didn't deserve to wake up to dead parents."
Goodwill Yost initially was reported missing after her parents' bodies were found. On Sunday, when police announced the arrests of Felix and Acosta, they also said a 17-year-old girl was in custody and Goodwill Yost had been located and was safe.
They did not say if she is the girl suspected of involvement in the killings, citing state law forbidding the release of juveniles' names.
Police have not disclosed how the victims were killed. Boucher was staying with the family at the time of the murders.