POLICE INVESTIGATE FOUR DEATHS IN HOLLYWOOD HILLS HOME.

Byline: Ryan Oliver and Dana Bartholomew Staff Writers

Detectives combed a Hollywood Hills neighborhood Monday for clues to the slayings of four family members found dead in their burned-out house over the weekend.

Friends and family members said the deaths mark a sad chapter in the history of the family that went from rags to riches in the motel business after immigrating from India two decades ago.

Grief counselors met with students at Reseda High School, where one of the victims was a student.

So far, no evidence has emerged to indicate who may have wanted them dead, said Capt. James Tatreau from the Robbery-Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Four detectives were canvassing the neighborhood, pursuing leads.

``The investigation is an open and blank piece of paper,'' he said. ``We're filling it in. We're focusing on no one at this time, and we're taking it where the investigation leads us.''

Family members identified the victims as Tulsi Kumar, 16; her brother, Paras Kumar, 18; their mother, Gita Kumar, 43; and 63-year-old Sitaben Patel, Gita Kumar's mother.

Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Bob Collins said investigators believe the fire had been set with a flammable liquid inside the home's two rear bedrooms. The fire caused $75,000 damage to the structure.

Authorities have not determined whether the victims were killed before or after the fire started. Officials hope the autopsies, expected to be performed later on the extensively charred remains, will reveal how the victims died.

Firefighters responded to the 2900 block of Lakeridge Drive about 11:15 p.m. Saturday and took 20 minutes to put out the blaze. Harish Kumar, 47, told officials he came home and found his house engulfed in flames with his wife, mother-in-law, daughter and son trapped inside.

Police questioned Harish Kumar for hours on Sunday. Tatreau said he is not considered a suspect but added that no one has been ruled out as a suspect either.

On Monday, more than 2,500 students at Reseda High mourned the loss of classmate Tulsi Kumar.

``Our school family is deeply sorrowful for the tragedy that has befallen the Kumar family,'' said Reseda High Principal Robert E. Kladifko. ``She was an excellent student, an excellent student.

``She was extremely well-liked and popular with the staff and students.''

Los Angeles schools' grief counselors arrived at Reseda High by the first bell to console more than 200 Reseda High students, Kladifko said. Friends scheduled a private student memorial service for Kumar during lunch.

The 16-year-old junior was a member of the elite Reseda High Science Math Academy and was taking engineering and pre-med classes to prepare for a University of California or other prestigious campus.

The Kumars turned their three Los Angeles motels into gold, friends and associates say. Property records show their motels were assessed at over $2 million in 2000. But their Midas touch only matched the extended Patel family, prince of America's mom-and-pop bedstops.

More than 30 percent of American hotel-motels are owned by Indian- Americans, according to the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association. And of the organization's 6,000 members, 5,000 are Patels from the western state of Gujarat, India.

Harish ``Harry'' Kumar - originally Harish Patel - moved with his African-born wife, Gita, in 1983 to Odessa, Texas - heart of the West Texas oil patch.

It was a rough town in flat, mesquite-covered terrain where oil was king. The Patels bought a 14-room motel for $75,000 on 2nd Street, the old east-west highway where roughnecks and roustabouts hung out in honky-tonks.

To fight discrimination and the Patel-motel stereotype, they changed their name to Kumar. Harry, hard-working and softspoken, maintained the family Sunset Motel. Gita, sharp, personable and with superior English, managed it.

Harry Kumar's brother soon bought a motel. Other Indians joined in. There wasn't a day in seven years they didn't play a foursome of tennis - even if they had to shovel snow off the court.

``We were young, we were in our 30s, we used to go to Los Angeles, to Las Vegas - with the boom time we made money,'' said Manhar ``Mike'' Patel, owner of the Regency Hotel in Odessa, a dear friend and foursome tennis partner.

Then the price of oil declined - and the bust nearly broke the Sunset.

``They built 10 more new rooms,'' Patel said. ``But they could only rent them for $13 or $14 a night. To save money, they had to fire the maid and clean the rooms themselves.''

When recession hit California in the early 1990s they bought a cheap motel in sunny Studio City. In exactly 10 years, they owned three motels valued at $2 million and a $500,000 house in the Hollywood Hills.

On Monday the tightly knit Indian-American community, extending from Atlanta, Ga., to Los Angeles, mourned the loss of a respected family with roots in the San Fernando Valley.

``It's deeply saddening for everybody. Our hearts go out to them,'' said Rya Hobart, spokeswoman for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, of which the Kumar family are members and directors.

``It's kind of a shock,'' said Mahesh Parekh, chairman of the Indian Association of the San Fernando Valley. ``We are very sorry to hear about their tragedy - in our community we've never had anything like this happen.''

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Photo:

(color) A small memorial is set up Monday at the Hollywood Hills home of victim Tulsi Kumar, 16, who was a Reseda High School student. Four members of the family were found dead Saturday inside the burning home. Fire investigators believe the blaze was set with a flammable liquid in two rear bedrooms.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer