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DENVER (AP) — Investigators recovered a body on Friday from the rubble of a suburban Denver house that was leveled by an unexplained explosion.
The victim was a male in his 20s, officials said, but they did not immediately say if it was the man reported missing after the blast on Thursday.
Debris clung to surrounding trees and rooftops and was scattered across two square blocks in a neighborhood in the northern Denver suburb of Thornton.
Investigators were looking into whether natural gas was the cause, said Lisa Wilson, a spokeswoman for the city.
Three people lived in the house and two were at work at the time of the explosion, she said. Those two told investigators the third person was probably in the home because his truck and motorcycle were there, she said.
No names had been released.
A search dog brought in by the Poudre Fire Authority of Fort Collins picked up a scent amid the rubble late Thursday, fire officials said.
Neighbor Robert Lance Russel told KCNC-TV that the blast knocked him and his son off their feet at their home across the street. Russel said they called out to see if anyone was in the debris but heard no response.
Todd Branson, who lives behind the home that exploded, said he was watching TV when he heard a boom.
"My back window just blew in, my screen door, the glass just totally blew in. When I had a chance to go out and see my back fence, my back fence was completely gone," he told KUSA-TV.
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