Official: Relatives Believe Family Was In Mansion For Fire
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ/AP) -- A community is grieving and six people are still missing after a four-alarm fire destroyed a mansion in Annapolis.
Christie Ileto has more.
The question is whether anyone was inside the home when the fire broke out. Relatives believe they were.
Russ Davies, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, has declined to identify the family members. On Tuesday, he said only that relatives believe the six -- a man and woman and their four grandchildren -- were inside the mansion when it caught fire.
"We know who's unaccounted for," said Davies said. "If you look at the damage, you know, it would not be a stretch to think that if there were occupants that they did not survive the fire."
It's the agony of not knowing what happened to six people believed to be inside a 16,000-square-foot mansion that went up in flames Monday morning.
"I knew there was a problem," said neighbor Maryann Hodgkins.
Neighbors are left with few answers, fearing that homeowner and tech exec Don Pyle, his wife Sandy and their four grandchildren were inside at the time.
"Shocked, really sad and scared," said Rev. Nancy Lincoln Reynolds.
Now Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church is holding all day community prayers for the Pyles, hoping to comfort a community bracing for the worst.
"Because we don't really have answers, it's confusing for people. We're looking forward to being able to get some definites," Reynolds said.
The church will have community prayer all day Wednesday.
Fire investigators plan another press conference Wednesday morning. At this point, it's unknown how long it will take to find the six people, who are still unaccounted for.