Cops: Missing Calif. family case probed as homicide
EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. --The disappearance of a missing Benicia, California family whose vacation cabin was found burned is now being investigated as a homicide and arson, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.
The Vallejo Times Herald reported that longtime Benicia resident Adam Buchanan, 37, his son Gavin, 7, and Gavin's mother Molly McAfee, 36, were declared missing following a Sept. 13 fire that destroyed their cabin in El Dorado County, about 70 miles east of Sacramento.
Stephen Gizzi, a Buchanan family attorney, told SFGate.com that that the family left Benicia for the vacation cabin, more than 100 miles northeast, Sept. 11. Two days later, a fire destroyed the cabin along with 10 acres of surrounding property.
According to a statement released by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, the remains of two unidentified people were found inside the burned residence. A possible third set of remains were also located, but they were in the early stages of being examined, the sheriff's office said in a statement Wednesday.
"The incident is being treated as a homicide and arson investigation at this time," the release states.
Gizzi told the Times Herald that the family regularly goes to the cabin for vacation trips. Buchanan, who is the president and chief operating officer of Buchanan Construction, Inc., also has a 16-year-old son who stayed behind in Benicia when the family took the weekend trip, Gizzi told the paper.
Gizzi told the paper the homicide investigation was "beyond bizarre" and came out of nowhere.
"They did not have any outstanding out-of-the-norm business or family problems," he said.
The family has been cooperating with the investigation, he said.