STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) -- Authorities say they are shifting from a search mode to an investigative mode after they found the bodies of three people killed in a Wednesday house fire.
Fire officials tell WTVA's Susan Parker the bodies were located during a search Thursday morning at the scene of the fire on Blackjack Road near Bardwell Road in Oktibbeha County.
Oktibbeha County Fire Coordinator Kirk Rosenhan says the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Department, State Fire Marshal's office, Oktibbeha County work crews, and volunteer firefighters from District 5 and East Oktibbeha are at the scene of the fire.
Family members identify one of the victims as Geraldine Rice, who he says worked as a caregiver in the home.
They say she was also a member of the District 5 Volunteer Fire Department.
The names of the other two victims have not been released, but authorities say one is an elderly woman and the other a college student.
The husband of the woman managed to escape the flames.
Rosenhan says crews have been using a backhoe to remove debris too heavy for them to lift.
He says the cause of the fire has not been determined.
