Four people died in a house fire near Vice President Joe Biden’s home in Washington, D.C. on Thursday afternoon, and the police are still searching for the reason why.
The D.C. Police Department confirmed in a press release that four people — three adults and a child — were found dead on the second floor of a building on the 3200 block of Woodland Drive, NW, a tony neighborhood dotted with embassies just north of the Vice President’s home at the U.S. Naval Observatory.
The bodies were found by firefighters responding to a call from neighbors reporting a fire shortly before 1:30. Police would not disclose the names of the victims or how they died, but the release said officials have labeled it a homicide/arson case. The MPD Major Case Squad is investigating, with assistance from the Arson and Explosives Task Force, which includes members from D.C. police and fire departments and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
They’re are asking for information concerning a blue 2008 Porsche with D.C. plates, which D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said left the home Thursday morning and was found late afternoon, abandoned.
On Friday, Washington Metropolitan Police and ATF officials had cordoned off the house at 3201 Woodland Drive in northwest Washington, and officials could be seen standing at the front door. The top floor windows of the million-dollar house were shattered or missing; black soot stained the white molding around the roof.
According to the Washington Post, which first reported news of the fire, the home was owned by Savvas P. Savopoulos and his socialite wife, Amy. He is listed on the website of American Iron Works, a building material manufacturing company, as president, and his Facebook page says he heads up Sigma Investment Strategies, a hedge fund.
The couple has three children — two teenage girls and a young boy.