Bay Area briefs

OAKLAND — At least one vehicle struck a pedestrian at a freeway entrance ramp early Friday, but no drivers stopped to claim responsibility.

The 98th Avenue onramp to northbound Interstate 880 was shut down before dawn as police investigated. It was reopened later in the morning.

The California Highway Patrol found a pedestrian dead on the onramp, said Officer Marc Johnston.

Investigators were looking for several cars that could have been involved.

"Some may have been initial contact and some may have run over the person,” Johnston said.

The drivers of two Ford trucks were being sought for questioning.

Two killed in house fire, smoke detectors disabled

WALNUT CREEK — Two people were killed in a house fire where smoke detectors had been disabled, fire officials said.

The bodies were found shortly after the single-alarm blaze was controlled Thursday night.

The two victims were not immediately identified, but Fire Chief Robert Davis said Friday that a woman in her 80s and a daughter in her 40s lived in the home.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, but firefighters found three smoke detectors disabled in two bedrooms.

Murder victim identified nearly four years later

WALNUT CREEK — After almost 3 1/2 years, Alameda County sheriff’s investigators said they identified a murdered teenage girl found in a duffel bag behind a Castro Valley restaurant.

The search took investigators all the way to Yahualica, Mexico, where it appears they found the girl’s family. Sgt. Scott Dudek, the lead investigator, withheld her name pending the return of DNA test results, expected in about two weeks.

Dudek said the girl’s mother told them her daughter left Yahualica on her 16th birthday in 2003, and had gone to Hayward for work baby-sitting. She told deputies she talked to her daughter only once after her arrival in America. She never heard from her again.

A tip detectives received earlier this year led them to the central Mexican town northeast of Guadalajara, where they asked residents for help identifying the girl.

The investigators had worked with a forensic anthropologist to sculpt a bust of the girl.

Palo Alto woman interrupts lunchtime burglary of home

A Palo Alto resident apparently interrupted a burglar when she came home at lunchtime Thursday, prompting police to blanket the area with approximately 20 officers as well as a police dog in a vain search for the suspect.

The attempted burglary occurred at approximately 1 p.m. on the 100 block of Ely Place. The victim arrived home to find her plasma television, computer and other personal property removed from her home and stacked in her garage.

According to police, a witness parked in the area reported seeing a white male between 18-20 years old fleeing the area on foot. The suspect was last seen wearing a tan jacket with black trim, blue jeans and a brown knit hat.

Responding officers and the canine unit did a complete yard-to-yard check of the neighborhood but the suspect was not located.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department's tip line at (650) 329-2190.

San Jose’s Tech Museum

gets new NASA film

San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation Friday became the only location in California to show a new film about the Earth developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The 16-minute film "Footprints”will be projected on a giant glowing sphere suspended from the ceiling in the museum's View from Space exhibit. It will present images of the earth from different points of view, from planetary views of city lights at night to examinations of hurricane formation. Mars and the moon are also part of the film, according to the Tech Museum. The film is being shown daily at the Tech Museum. Only 10 science museums across the country, including museums in Hawaii, Virginia and Minnesota, are currently showing the film.

Woman jumps from second story building in San Jose fire

Fire officials say a woman jumped from a second story window to escape the flames that suddenly overtook her San Jose apartment Friday.

The woman suffered only minor injuries, San Jose fire Capt. Michael Shaw said. She was transported to the hospital for treatment of her injuries, and to be checked for smoke inhalation.

"She had some soot around her face from breathing in the smoke,” Shaw said.

The one-alarm blaze was reported at 5:22 p.m. at 1489 Fruitdale Ave. It displaced the woman and the two other people in her family, who were not at home when the fire broke out. The Red Cross is providing shelter for the family Friday, Shaw said.

The fire started in the kitchen by unattended cooking, Shaw said.

"The female resident was asleep on the couch and woke up to her kitchen on fire,” he said.

Three fire engines, two truck companies and two battalion chiefs responded to the incident, Shaw said, knocking the fire down "in a matter of minutes.”

The apartment sustained fire damage to the kitchen and living room, and smoke damage throughout the unit. Preliminary estimates place the damage at $50,000. Neighboring units were unharmed, Shaw said.