Human remains were found by civilians in debris a week after a house fire in Stroud.
Neighbors were worried because they hadn't heard from Brian Arterberry and Kayla Dawn Butler after the March 8 fire. They were convinced they didn't survive, News 9 reported
On March 13, the two were reported missing by Stroud Police after repeated attempts to locate them failed. Information about the couple was entered into the national data base, KOCO reported.
"I’ve stayed on top of this since the fire because Kayla and Brian have been missing," Paul Saunders, a neighbor, told reporters.
Neighbors said they and a family member of one of the residents were the ones who discovered the remains
"I grab ahold of her, and then as soon as I let her go, we both looked down and there’s human remains. A skull, his pelvis bone," neighbor Ashley Steel said.
The medical examiner has not positively identified the remains as those of the missing occupants.
Neighbors claimed firefighters didn't search the house during or after the fire.
However, on its Facebook page, Stroud fire officials wrote: "A rapid primary search of the residence was executed in all stable areas of the first floor. The residence had begun to lose its structural integrity as areas of the second story had collapsed into the first story of the residence."
The state fire marshal's office had reportedly planned to return to the residence on March 15 to search again. However, the night before, the neighbors found the remains.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
