The charred bodies of a 14-year-old boy and a dog were found entwined at the scene of a fire that ravaged an entire neighborhood on the island of Maui, Hawaii.
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It was the young man’s adoptive parents who made the macabre discovery. The whole family had returned home hoping to find him alive.
Keyiro Fuentes was enjoying his last day of vacation before the start of the school year when a series of deadly wildfires began to ravage the area, his mother, Luz Vargas, told CBS News.
The woman, who worked five miles away, was trying to reach her home with her husband when she learned her neighborhood was on fire. The mother of the family ran towards the traffic light when she reached a closed section of road.
“My neighbors tried to stop me, but I told them I would never abandon my son,” she pleaded.
It was the police present at the scene who prevented them from entering the burning house.
Two days after the tragedy, the family was able to start searching. That’s when they found the body of the teenager holding his pet.
“I thought I would find him in the ashes,” she confessed, saying the extreme heat helped preserve her son’s remains.
“God made it that way. It allowed us to recognize him,” the teen’s adoptive mother said.
The family wrapped the body in a blanket before dropping it off at the police station. This enabled the authorities to identify the deceased.
“I would have liked to have had more time with him,” his brother Josue Garcia confided in Vargas. He was too young. I am convinced that he would have made a good man.”
The congregation came together to honor him on his 15th birthday.