2 Bodies Found in Mansion's Charred Ruins

Investigators found the bodies of two unidentified people yesterday in the charred remains of an Annapolis-area mansion that burned to the ground earlier this week, a fire official says. Cadaver dogs and searchers found the bodies, and four people remain unaccounted for, the county fire department spokesman says. "I cannot say if they are adults or children," he says, adding that they were taken to the state medical examiner's office in Baltimore for identification. He says he doesn't know how long it will take to identify the victims and determine their cause of death.

Owners Donald and Sandra Pyle and their four grandchildren have been missing since crews were called early Monday to the scene of the blaze, which reduced the 16,000-square-foot waterfront castle to ruins. Investigators began excavating the ruins yesterday, but although there are still many questions surrounding the blaze, the fire department spokesman says no accelerant-sniffing dogs have been brought in so far. "We have never called the fire suspicious," he says. The house was constructed more like a commercial building than a typical residence, with heavy steel beams, he says, making it difficult to ensure the scene is safe for investigators to enter. (More Annapolis stories.)