"That's one of the things we're working on in our investigation is to pin down: 'Were those children alone in the apartment?'", Gainesville Police Chief Frank Hooper said Tuesday.
Hooper says two policemen who got to the burning unit at Harrison Square Apartments off Athens Street ahead of other emergency personnel did not see her initially."She came running up after they got there."
Chief Hooper says there is no shortage of witnesses, and investigators have been interviewing them, but, he said, they have not been able to determine whether she left the apartment and went to a nearby store. Some reports quote neighbors as saying the woman, the mother of two of the victims, had gone to the store to use a pay phone. But, an aunt of one of the children, Jessica Cordona, disputes that.
"She said that she was cooking and the stove (exploded) and the kids (ran) into the room instead of going outside," Cordona said.
Meanwhile, Chief Hooper says the two officers who were first on the scene had to be treated for minor smoke inhalation which they suffered when they tried to go into the burning apartment.
The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner has ruled three year old Mauricio Diaz, one year old Jordy Diaz, one year old Yamilet Olivas and four year Saul Olivas all died of smoke inhalation.
(The Associated Press and Georgia News Network contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/2/163268