VICTIMS IDENTIFIED IN LEWIS CO. BARN FIRE - Investigators Say Fire Suspicious, Pistol Discovered

(11/15/2012)
Authorities are staying mum following the discovery of the bodies of a Lewis County woman and her two small children in the debris of a burned barn.

First Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Nabila Haikal identified the victims as 32-year-old Beth Ann Kraus; her 5-year-old son, Kaden Edward Kraus; and her 3-year-old daughter, Keira Marie Kraus, all of the Alumn Bridge area.

The discovery was made by the the woman's husband where he returned from work. The barn burned down overnight and undetected in a rural area near Alum Bridge.

Deputy State Fire Marshal Reed Cook is calling the fire "suspicious," saying investigators found a pistol at the scene.

Cook said firefighters were dispatched around 7:51 a.m. Monday to Coopers Run Road in Alum Bridge, about 12 miles west of Weston, with the barn on the ground.

Neither sheriff's deputies nor fire investigators will say whether they believe the victims died before or during the blaze.