A Southern California couple says they are heartbroken and that their best hope of having biological children has been crushed after a preeminent fertility clinic in Los Angeles reportedly threw away their embryos.

Marissa Calhoun, who said she endured three agonizing egg retrieval procedures since 2021, and her partner, Stephen Castaneda, are now suing Reproductive Partners Medical Group and Dr. Andy Huang.  

Calhoun says that nearly a year ago, her eggs were fertilized and placed in an incubator and admits that she’s been devastated since learning they were no longer being stored.  

“The grief was immediate and overwhelming,” she explained.  

According to the couple’s attorney, Adam Wolf, the clinic admitted that an employee had not labeled Calhoun’s embryos before placing them in the incubator.  

“Then later took the unlabeled embryos out of the incubator and just threw them away,” Wold explained. “RMPG literally treated Marissa’s embryos like trash.”  

In an online news conference Tuesday to announce the reckless negligence lawsuit against Dr. Huang and Reproductive Partners Medical Group, Castaneda talked about how Calhoun told him of the loss of their embryos in a panicked phone call.  

“I never heard that much pain in her voice before,” Castaneda explained. “It was the pain that I could only associate with the death of a loved one. I hate the helplessness of the situation.”  

The couple and their attorney say they were denied documentation of what happened and added that no legal settlement can compensate them for what they have lost.  

“Marissa and I are going through the grieving process,” Castaneda added. “We are trying to come to grips with the fact that we may never have the family that we so badly wanted to have.”

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, has been filed in L.A. Superior Court.  

Police are searching for a large group of suspects involved in a massive street takeover and destructive looting of a store in South Los Angeles.

On June 10 at around 3:50 a.m., hundreds of people gathered for a street takeover at Century Boulevard and Hoover Street in the Vermont Vista neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The large crowds illegally blocked the streets while drivers performed dangerous stunts such as donuts and burnouts, police said.

At the same time around 50 to 75 people from the street takeover headed over to an AutoZone store on the 600 block of West Century Boulevard and ransacked the shop.

The thieves escaped with around $67,000 worth of stolen merchandise, authorities said.

One suspect, Danny Sanchez, 24, was arrested after leading officers on a pursuit.

Inside his vehicle, police discovered around $1,200 worth of stolen goods. Sanchez was arrested and later charged with second-degree burglary, organized retail grand theft, and reckless evading of a police officer.

The LAPD’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force is asking for the public’s help to identify the additional suspects involved. Images of the suspects were captured at the AutoZone during the destructive looting.

“The suspects have shown a complete disregard for the safety and property of others,” said LAPD. “There is a wide range of suspect descriptions, but the suspects are believed to belong to street takeover groups.”

Anyone who recognizes the thieves or has information on the case is urged to call LAPD’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force at 818-374-9420 or email ORC@lapd.online.

The public can also call the LAPD at 1-877-527-3247. Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.

Police are asking the public for help Tuesday in their search for a hit-and-run driver who struck a bicyclist in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of Los Angeles earlier this month and left him lying in the street with severe injuries.

The incident occurred just before 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 2 as a 63-year-old man was riding his bike on Hoover Street near 79th Street.

The bicyclist fell to the ground and was struck by a sedan traveling northbound on Hoover Street as he was trying to get up, the Los Angeles Police Department stated in a news release.

“The vehicle failed to stop, render aid, and remain at scene as required by law,” the Police Department stated.

The unidentified victim was later transported by ambulance with “life-threatening injuries” and remains hospitalized, police said.

No further description of the vehicle was available but it was last seen headed northbound on Hoover Street.

The victim’s family is asking that anyone who witnessed the crash come forward and talk to police.

The LAPD’s anonymous tip line can be reached at 877-527-3247.