A sixth body was recovered from the wreckage of a Maryland Mansion that was completely destroyed in a fire one week ago and prompted a search for six family members believed to have perished in the blaze.
The family including a man, woman and four children was unaccounted for after Anne Arundel County firefighters subdued the flames that engulfed the Annapolis mansion on Jan. 19 and reduced it to a pile of rubble. But the scale of the 16,000-square-foot area, the mansion's size, prevented officials from immediately searching the area for victims.
Anne Arundel fire officials said Monday the sixth victim was found at the site, WBAL-TV reported. Search teams with K-9s found the first two bodies last Wednesday and another two on Thursday before a fifth victim was found on Friday.
The sprawling seven-bedroom, seven-bath mansion was owned by Don Pyle, the CEO of Virginia-based technology firm ScienceLogic, and his wife Sandra.
The four children are their grandkids, identified by family members as 8-year-old Alexis Boone; 8-year-old Charlotte Boone; 7-year-old Kaitlyn Boone; and 6-year-old Wesley Boone, the station reported.
The bodies were transported to Maryland's Office of the State Medical Examiner where autopsies will be performed and the victims will be identified, WUSA-TV reported.
As of late Monday a cause for the deadly blaze inside the home, which reportedly had no sprinkler system, has not been determined. Investigators will create a virtual model of the mansion and examine electronics used inside the home, WBAL reported.
Foul play is not suspected to be involved.
"Life is fragile," the Boone and Pyle families said in a statement, NBC News reported.
"Make time today to embrace your loved ones."
