The parents of three children are unaccounted for after the bodies of two people were found in a Thornton home, officials say.
Lee Lysaythong, 41, and his wife, Blia Xiong, have not been located since the fire, according to family member Jacques Lee. He said he believes they were killed in the fire Tuesday at 2422 E. 96th Way.
Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes said Wednesday that police have not heard from the couple, but the Adams County coroner has not confirmed the identities of the bodies.
Authorities have located the couple’s teenage son and 6-year-old daughter, Lee said. The couple’s older daughter is in Korea, he said.
Lee said he went to the home Wednesday to ask authorities where the children were and learned they are with the mother’s family.
A fourth child of the couple, who was a senior in high school this year, committed suicide this year, he said. Barnes said he does not know whether the suicide had anything to do with the deaths Tuesday.
Meantime, on Wednesday, a specially trained black Labrador sniffed for signs that an accelerant was used to start a fire at the home, Barnes said.
State and city investigators scoured the home for evidence explaining how the fire started, he said.
Barnes said he does not know whether the dog, owned by a Colorado Bureau of Investigation officer, found evidence of arson.
Officers found a rifle inside the house, but officials won’t know whether the weapon is significant until an autopsy is completed, Barnes said.
The fire, which started about 10:15 a.m., scorched the walls and toppled the ceiling of the single-floor home.
The body of a man was found in the rear of the home near sliding- glass windows.
Firefighters found a second body in a bedroom, but the body was too burned to tell whether the person was a man or a woman.
Lee said Lysaythong is a truck driver and a welder. His wife works in Denver, but Lee did not know where she worked, he said.
Neighbors said the family members were very quiet.
“They seemed to be a really happy family,” neighbor Melissa Trujillo, 43, said Wednesday. “I would see them loading up to go camping. This is so sad. It’s horrible.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
