|
| This combination of undated photos provided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows Gage Daniel, 7, left, and Chloie Leverette, 9. The two children, initially believed to have perished in a Tennessee farmhouse fire along with their step-grandparents, are now considered missing and in danger, investigators said on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the remains of Leverette and Daniel were not found and the agency issued an endangered child alert for them on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators said neighbors last saw the children Sunday evening, Sept. 23, 2012, hours before a fire destroyed the home in Bedford County about a half-hour from Nashville. |
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) -- Two children initially believed to have perished in an
intense Tennessee farmhouse fire along with their step-grandparents are
now considered missing and perhaps in danger, investigators said on
Wednesday.
The Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation said the remains of 9-year-old Chloie Leverette and
7-year-old Gage Daniel were not found and the agency issued an
endangered child alert for them on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators
said neighbors last saw the children Sunday evening, hours before a fire
destroyed the home in Bedford County about 40 miles southeast of
Nashville.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said
the district attorney asked the agency to investigate the fatal fire and
the whereabouts of the children. She said there is no evidence yet that
the children were not in the house, but investigators are speaking with
family members, friends and people at the children's school.
Helm said TBI issued the alert "under an abundance of caution."
"As time moves on, we don't want to miss our opportunity to locate them if they were not in the house," Helm said.
The
State Fire Marshal's Office said in a statement that it has concluded
"that there are no remains of the two children in the structure. The
children's location at this time is unknown." Its investigators will
determine a cause.
Bedford County Sheriff
Randall Boyce said investigators did find the bodies of 72-year-old Leon
"Bubba" McClaran and his 70-year-old wife, Molli McClaran. He said
Monday that investigators had found three bodies, but now says one
turned out to be that of a dog.
Helm confirmed
that the remains of two people and an animal were recovered in the
house, but she said the medical examiner would have to positively
identify them.
The fire was very intense and
quickly collapsed the walls of the house. Firefighters spent several
hours battling the flames overnight Sunday and early Monday, but they
were hindered because the house sat far back from the road and was not
near a hydrant.
Forensic anthropologists and
cadaver dogs searched through the rubble for the remaining bodies and
the Tennessee Highway Patrol used a helicopter to search the surrounding
area.
Family members told The Associated
Press that the McClarans were raising their step-grandchildren because
they needed a home and described them as generous people who loved their
family. Relatives of the McClarans said the girl also used the last
name Pope.
The state Department of Children's
Services investigated the mother of the two children and Daniel's father
between 2006 and 2010, said spokesman Brandon Gee. Gee would not
release the names of the parents.
He would not
say why the parents were investigated, but said the agency was sharing
information with law enforcement involved in their search. He confirmed
that the McClarans had custody of the two children, but he said DCS has
never taken custody of them nor placed them in a home.
