Heir to Getty oil fortune found dead in L.A. home

LOS ANGELES -- Andrew Getty, the 47-year-old grandson of the late oil billionaire J. Paul Getty and one of the heirs to the fortune of one of the wealthiest and best-known families in American history, was found dead Tuesday in his Hollywood Hills home, police and family members said.

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

Police didn't identify the man, but a statement from Andrew Getty's parents, Ann and Gordon Getty, confirmed it was him.

The statement provided no further details on the death and asked that the media and public respect the family's privacy. It said further statements will be issued as information becomes available.

Richter and other police officials would not immediately confirm media reports that the dead man was Getty.

Ed Winter, of the Los Angeles County coroner's office, said the death was from natural causes or an accident, reports CBS Los Angeles.

"The tentative information that we have is that he was not feeling good for the last couple months and he supposedly had an appointment scheduled for tomorrow with a personal physician," Winter said. "We did collect some prescription bottles."

The office said it plans to do a toxicology test.

Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the woman who had called police was cooperating with the investigation. Richter said she was not arrested and he did not know her identity.

CBS Los Angeles reports Getty's former girlfriend is the person who made the call.

Police initially said they had detained a person of interest, when the cause of death was undetermined, the station says. That person was also identified by sources as Getty's former girlfriend and was being questioned.

Getty's home has been the location of recent police activity ranging from noise complaints to reports of trespassing, the station says.

The Los Angeles Times, citing court records, reported that Getty had sought a restraining order two weeks ago against a woman. His attorney did not comment.

Coroner's vans and news trucks were parked outside the century-old luxury home on one of the winding roads in the hills that are home to many of the film industry elite.

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

Andrew Getty's net worth was estimated at $2.1 billion by Forbes magazine.

Andrew Getty's grandfather J. Paul Getty was an industrialist who founded the 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.

J. Paul Getty was an avid collector of art and antiquities, and the Getty name is best known in the Los Angeles area for the museum that houses much of it, along with many other high-priced artworks bought since his death.

Another Getty grandson, 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 to a newspaper to prove they had taken him captive.

The oil heir, then 16, was freed after five months in captivity and a payment of $2.7 million. He died in 2011 at age 54.