The two bodies discovered inside a house in Stroud nearly a week after it burned in early March have still not been identified, Stroud Police Chief Clint Gaylord said this week.
“I talked to the State Medical Examiner’s Office last week and they still haven’t identified them,” Gaylord said on Monday.
“They are still trying to see if any of the bones match any medical records. They still haven’t told us anything yet on who they are,” he stressed.
Gaylord said it is an open investigation. “Those two persons that are listed as missing in NCIC have not been heard from since the fire. Two others were able to get out of the house,” Gaylord noted.
He emphasized, “The origin or causation of the fire hasn’t been able to be determined,” he added.
Gaylord explained, “What has made it difficult is the lapse in time of when the house fire occurred and when the bodies were found.”
The fire reportedly occurred on March 8, but it wasn’t determined to be fatal until nearly a week later, when on March 14 the remains of two persons were discovered inside.
The evening of March 14, a passerby, possibly a neighbor, apparently was curious and was looking around and noticed some remains. “He notified the Stroud Police Department,” Stroud Fire Chief Chris Wilson explained.
Wilson said firefighters responded to the house fire that broke out around 4 a.m. March 8 at 910 W. 4th in Stroud. He reported that witnesses at the scene said a couple of people got out and they didn’t believe anyone was inside the house.
Firefighters were on the scene that day for about 10 hours extinguishing the fire and knocking down hot spots, he said.
“We conducted our search that morning for anyone who might have been in the house,” Wilson noted.
He pointed out the structure was in really bad shape from the fire. “It was fully engulfed upon arrival,.” Wilson said.
Gaylord confirmed a couple of days following that discovery, “The remains are of at least two persons. Two people got out of the fire, they are accounted for and we have talked with them,” Gaylord said.
“There are two more believed to have gotten out but are missing,” he stated.
Gaylord said in the last two or three years the fire department has responded to a couple of fires at that residence that were accidental.
The State Fire Marshall’s Office and the State Medical Examiner were on the scene March 15 doing the recovery of those remains, Wilson has stated.
Gaylord has said, “That what the State Fire Marshall’s Office finds will assist us in our investigation as well.”
Wilson said before the remains were discovered the evening of March 14, “We were scheduled to excavate the property the morning of March 15.”
Wilson has reported that three Stroud fire units and 10 firefighters responded to the blaze.