Investigators have found small bone fragments at the property of a 91-year-old woman who was reported missing after the Marshall fire.
Scientific testing is underway to determine if the collected fragments are human, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
The search at a property in Superior was for Edna Nadine Turnbull, who was last seen tending to her dogs inside her home after being told to flee.
Turnbull lived with her adult granddaughter with her two dogs, two goats and two horses, Amy Smith, a family friend told The Associated Press. Her granddaughter was able to escape.
Turnbull’s neighbor Scotty Roberts told KCNC-TV that he barely escaped his family’s home before he went to Turnbull’s house to tell her to get out, asking a sheriff’s deputy to come with him.
But as soon as the front door to the house opened and let air inside, the fire intensified, he said. Turnbull was tethered to her dogs and the leashes were wrapped around a table, the station reported.
Roberts said he was sorry, and ran, he told the station.
Robert Sharpe, 69, was the first confirmed death of the Marshall fire. His remains were found inside his home about a week after the Dec. 30 fire.
He was seen trying to fight the fire and waved at least one warning for him to evacuate his home located in the 5900 block of Marshall Road, not far from where the fire started.
Sharpe was a longtime Boulder resident who worked in the construction industry for many years, his family said in a statement. Shharpe was active in community affairs and concerned with children’s rights, they said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.