JEFFERSON COUNTY, W.Va. — Four people who died at a house in Jefferson County near Middleway died from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to investigators with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.
Jefferson County Sheriff Pete Dougherty told WEPM News, a MetroNews affiliate, the victims were found Sunday morning in a Leetown home that was without electricity.
“I don’t know whether the wind knocked their power out or whether they just didn’t have power at all,” he said Monday.
A generator running inside the home was being used to power a heater, deputies indicated.
The bodies of the young girl, a teenage boy, a woman and man were taken to the State Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Charleston.
On Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline,” Dougherty identified the two adults killed as James Miller, 42, and Andrea Miller, 46.
He said the teenager, age 16, was the son of Mr. Miller while the young girl, age three, was Mrs. Miller’s granddaughter.
Dougherty said they should know more about the official cause of death soon.
“We have no reason to believe there was any foul play involved, but obviously the medical examiner will make the final decision there,” he said.
Dougherty called it a “tragic accident.”
“This is just a stark reminder, a tragic reminder that one needs to be very careful when they’re using alternate sources of heating,” he said. “And to make sure that they’re properly ventilated in order to prevent tragedies like this from happening.”