Updated

Police in Los Angeles are searching for a man and a woman who they say set an exotic nightclub dancer on fire, leaving her clinging to life.

The woman was meeting the two acquaintances about at 1:30 a.m outside the Babes & Beer nightclub in the Tarzana area of the San Fernando Valley when they doused her with some type of flammable liquid and set her on fire, police said. She then ran back inside the bar where other patrons came to her aid.

The attackers, Rianne Celine Theriault-Odom, 27, and Nathaniel Marquis Petrillo, 22, were frequent patrons of the club and positively identified by witnesses, police spokesman Richard French said.

Deputy Police Chief Michael Moore said the dancer is in grave condition.

"Given the condition of this victim, they may be responsible for ultimately her murder,"Moore said at a news conference Thursday. "This is a terrible, terrible attack."

The victim is a 27-year-old mother of two young children, Moore said.

A sign at the club indicated it was a sports bar. A message left at the club was not immediately returned.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.