The two bodies discovered inside a house in Stroud nearly a week after it burned in early March of 2023 have been identified, Stroud Police Chief Clint Gaylord confirmed this week.
Gaylord said the State Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two victims as Brian Arterberry, 40, and Kayla Butler, 32, both of Stroud.
The police chief reported the State Fire Marshal’s Office never was able to determine the causation of the fire or determine its origin.
Gaylord stated, “Those were the two names entered into NCIC and the State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed their identity. It took a lot longer than I anticipated for them to be identified,” he noted.
The chief said the State Medical Examiner’s Office notified him in September of 2023.
Gaylord had explained previously, “What 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, 2023, 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 Cliff Wilson has said previously.
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 had said in the last two or three years the fire department had responded to a couple of fires at that residence that were accidental.
Wilson has reported that three Stroud fire units and 10 firefighters responded to the blaze.