Spokane7
67°
February 8, 2011 in News, Idaho
Human remains discovered in DeSmet fire
Authorities have discovered human remains in the rubble of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s historic former boarding school building, which was destroyed by fire Thursday.
Tribal police found the remains while investigating the cause of the fire, a Tuesday news release from the tribe said. The building, known as the Mary Immaculate School, came to be known as the sisters building or sisters school.
“We’re working with the FBI and the state fire marshal,” said Keith Hutcheson, tribal police chief, in the release. “Hopefully we can determine who this person was for the sake of this individual’s family.”
The cause of the fire is unknown.
Marc Stewart, a spokesman for the tribe, said crews securing the building site knocked over the walls and chimneys after the fire and the material fell into the foundation area.
“They had all this rubble they had to go through,” Stewart said, explaining why the remains were not discovered for several days. The Spokane County medical examiner will do an autopsy, Stewart said.
“To our knowledge, there was no one in the building” at the time of the fire, Stewart said.
The three-story brick building was built in 1908 and used as a boarding school until 1974. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Until its destruction, the building was used for educational and cultural purposes, storage and to house telecommunications equipment for wireless Internet services for the DeSmet area.
“We might never know what caused this fire,” Hutcheson said. “We don’t know why this person was in the building.”
Recent stories in News
Gay marriage foes: ballot measure has enough signatures May 30, 2012 5- 1992 murder trial begins against sex offender May 30, 2012 1
- Supermajority for taxes unconstitutional, judge rules May 30, 2012 17
- Man dies following early Saturday car crash May 30, 2012 13
- Sex trafficking suspects released as probe continues May 29, 2012 7
Kivaari on February 08 at 6:09 p.m.
Great! The evidence destruction team has already eliminated most of the evidence. That is the role of the fire dapartment.
eagleproducer on February 08 at 6:20 p.m.
K: Don’t be too hard on your fellow public safety brethren. You wouldn’t want to give the public the idea that firefighters efface their negligence.
I have trouble understanding why the tribe wanted to preserve this bastion of cultural displacement? The school was part of a model replicated around the globe that led to the sad collapse of a thousand nations.
hhuseland on February 08 at 6:46 p.m.
The tribe has had a couple of hundred years to get used to the reality of today. Perhaps this being new to you makes you more sensitive to the origins. Besides, it’s a huge building with many uses, from a practical position. Maybe we should let the tribe speak for themselves regarding what they are sensitive about and what they aren’t. When I drive through the cda reservation during the summer, there are huge signs advertising “Indian Fireworks, ” with references to warrior this and that, yet we are not supposed to use anything but Native American. Methinks we are bending over to far backward, unnecessarily. What worries me is how long that body has been in the building and why. Could it be like way old, during the times the above comment refers to? Occasionally, the old church covered up their more serious mistakes, literally. Could those remains have been IN the wall?
eagleproducer on February 09 at 9:19 a.m.
Herb: Can you decode the second sentence of your post for me? It makes an assumption about me that is unclear.