Remains of missing man found at scene of Deer Lake motel fire, police say
Man hadn't been accounted for since fire burned on Saturday
The RCMP has confirmed human remains were found in the rubble of the Driftwood Inn on Wednesday morning.
Police said the remains belong to Eugene Spoon, 77, who was a guest at the Deer Lake motel. He had been missing since the building went up in flames on Saturday.
Spoon's remains were discovered during a search of the scene, according to RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Jolene Garland.
"Human remains were located ... inside the hotel, in the fire scene for lack of better words. And those remains have been identified as the man who was reported missing in Deer Lake the same day of the fire," she said.
Spoon was visiting the province from Kansas, according to a missing persons advisory sent by police after the fire. Garland said his family has been notified, and police are offering their condolences.
Crews from four western Newfoundland communities fought the fire for more than 16 hours on Saturday. It remains unclear how the fire started, but a police investigation is continuing. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is also engaged.
Garland said there's no indication as to why Spoon wasn't able to make it out of the motel once the fire began.
Guests staying at the motel questioned the building's fire-detection system when speaking with CBC News on Saturday, saying they didn't hear fire alarms or sprinklers going off and were instead woken up to bangs on their doors.
In a video sent to CBC News on Monday, however, alarm bells could be heard from across the street from the hotel.
On Monday, Newfoundland and Labrador's Official Opposition Party called for an "urgent review" into what happened.
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With files from Sanuda Ranawake