Suspect in Los Angeles Dismembered Torso Case Is Hollywood Scion, Whose Wife and In-Laws Remain Missing

The suspect in a Los Angeles case, where a dismembered torso was found in a dumpster, is reportedly a scion of a prominent Hollywood family whose wife and in-laws are missing.

Murder suspect Sam Haskell Jr., whose family is known for Christmas movies, was arrested after a homeless man found a headless body in a dumpster, according to a report by Fox News.

The Los Angeles Police Department said they responded to a dumpster at around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue in Encino, where they found a woman’s torso.

Police said the victim has not yet been identified, but that the woman’s body may belong to the murder suspect’s wife.

Police also found evidence at the scene that led them to the home of 35-year-old Sam Haskell IV, the son of Hollywood producer Sam Haskell III.

The LA murder suspect lived at the home with his wife, their three children, and his in-laws, according to a report by Fox 11 Los Angeles.

Authorities said the children were found safely at school, but that their mother, 37-year-old Mei Haskell, and grandparents, 72-year-old Goashan Li and 64-year-old Yanxiang Wang, are missing.

Haskell’s father was an an Emmy-winning producer, and a longtime A-list Hollywood agent — who represented stars like Dolly Parton and George Clooney — as well as a longtime Miss America Organization CEO, Fox News reported.

He was later embroiled in a scandal after leaked emails showed him disparaging former winners of Miss America, and his demise was chronicled in A&E’s Secrets of Miss America miniseries in June.

Meanwhile, his son reportedly maintained an Instagram account where he oftentimes posted about his Hollywood lifestyle under the hashtag #richkids. The murder suspect’s mother is 1977’s Miss Mississippi and actress Mary Donnelly Haskell.

Haskell is reportedly being held without bail, and is due back in court Monday.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.