Investigators are still sifting through the remains of a Mount Ayr home that was gutted by fire early Sunday, killing a father and three children. Ringgold County Sheriff Bob Bennett says investigators from the state fire marshal’s office have a lot of work ahead of them.The victims are: 46-year-old Richard “Dean” McNear, his two sons 13-year-old Brian and ten-year-old Sean, and a five-year-old daughter, Misty. Several vehicles parked outside the house were also destroyed, so Bennett says it’s possible an explosion heard by witnesses came after the fire broke out.Bennett says Mount Ayr residents are coming to terms with the deaths.The wife and mother of the victims, Cathy McNear, was at work when the fire broke out. She’s a certified nurse’s assistant at a nursing home.
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