DEADLY HOME FIRE HAS BEEN RULED ARSON, AS THE DEATH HAS BEEN RULED HOMICIDE IN COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
February 5,
2015
An autopsy
was completed Thursday for the person found dead in a Fountain home during a
fire.
Authorities
have identified the body as 27-year-old Larissa Tiffany-Schiess. Her death has
been ruled a homicide.
The woman's
body was discovered by firefighters who had responded to the blaze early
Wednesday morning. Police say the death was not related to the fire, and are
calling it suspicious.
A person of
interest has been named in connection to the fire. Identified as Keith Myers,
he was located by police in Colorado Springs about six hours after firefighters
arrived on scene. Myers is reportedly cooperating with police and has not been
taken into custody.
Neighbors
tell 11 News that Myers lives in the home on Candlestar Loop where the fire
was. The El Paso County property assessor confirms a Keith Myers does live at
that address. A car belonging to Schiess was also recovered Thursday in Pueblo.
Crime tape
surrounded the Fountain home Wednesday as investigators remained on scene hours
after firefighters extinguished the blaze. Firefighters were called to the
scene around 2:30 a.m. when an automatic fire alarm went off inside the home.
The deceased was found inside after firefighters got inside the smoke-filled.
Flames had already spread along the stairwell to both floors.
Chief Darin
Anstine with the Fountain Fire Department said, "The good thing was that
when we were notified the fire hadn't come to the roof yet. Fire was still
inside the house."
Two
uninjured pets were rescued from the house. The Humane Society of the Pikes
Peak Region (HSPPR) responded to the home to take care of the animals.
Once
firefighters determined there were no other survivors, they got to work
attacking the flames, and had the fire under control within 30 minutes.
"Due
to the nature of what they [the firefighters] discovered, we are treating this
as a crime scene," Fountain Police Department Lt. Ron Reeves said.
Reeves said
the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney's office had
been contacted.