2 victims still unidentified in Hartland fire

HARTLAND – No further information will be provided about the deaths of two people on Sunday morning in a Hartland fire until positive identifications are made, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said Thursday.

“That could be Friday or Monday,” he said.

The bodies of the man and woman were burned so badly that DNA is being used to determine their identities, McCausland said.

Police believe, however, the two bodies found Sunday in the charred remnants of the house on Vigue Road are those of Timothy Spaulding, 45, and Linda Spaulding, 44.

The Spauldings had built the home together several years ago but then divorced, according to McCausland. The couple had reconciled recently, but Timothy Spaulding had moved out more than a week ago.

The home had once been in both names, according to town records, but Timothy Spaulding’s name recently was taken off the property.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office said the fire began in the second-floor living quarters of the home. The home was a two-story wooden building with a garage on the first floor and the living space on the second floor.

The damage to the home was so severe that State Fire Marshal investigators have not been able to pinpoint the cause of the blaze.