Questions still surround missing Benicia family after cabin fire

BENICIA, Calif. (KTVU) -- The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department revealed Monday that the remains of two people have been found inside a cabin destroyed in a fire last week. 

Three members of a Benicia family had been staying at the cabin and have been considered missing. The coroner has not yet identified the remains of the two people.

For neighbors in Benicia, it is a mystery that appears to be leaning towards a sad outcome.

"I think everyone in the neighborhood is horrified and saddened by the possibility of a real tragedy here," said neighbor Steve Dean.

No one seems able to say for sure what's become of Adam Buchanan, his longtime live-in girlfriend Molly McAfee and their seven-year-old son Gavin.

The three family members have been missing since a fire destroyed their small weekend cabin in El Dorado County on September 13th.

Adam's 14-year-old son had stayed behind in Benicia.

"The fire department didn't get out to the cabin until it had been completely burned out. There is nothing recognizable there," said Stephen Gizzi, an attorney for the Buchanan family.

The sheriff's department released a statement saying they have found the charred remains of two people and that the coroner was still working to identify who they are and how they died.

But Benicia neighbors said El Dorado County investigators came down and began asking them questions about the couple's relationship.

"They had a real roller coaster ride of a relationship. There were times when they seemed fine. And there were times when they seemed at odds with each other," said Dean.

Buchanan owns a family construction business in town.

Young Gavin, last year at the age of six, pulled together a hundred dollars which he donated to the Benicia police department's canine unit for bullet proof vests for dogs.

It's another reason what's happened in El Dorado County is as sad as it is mysterious.

"The only way the family is going to have complete resolution is to know what happened. And if it takes a criminal investigation they are certainly willing to support that and participate and cooperate in any way they can to get those answers," said Gizzi.

A neighbor says authorities also impounded a pick-up truck that had been parked in the family's driveway.