Authorities recovered a body Sunday in the ruins of Boardwalk Apartments, which was destroyed by fire early Friday.
Mark Bradford, interim chief of the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical Department, said investigators found the remains in the burned-out apartment complex soon after recovery efforts resumed Sunday morning. Authorities haven't determined whether the remains are those of a man or a woman, he said.
He said the body was taken to the Douglas County coroner's office to be identified.
The body was found as investigators using search dogs began probing the rubble of the three-story, blocklong building.
Other remains were found soon after that, but authorities were unable to immediately determine whether those were of a human victim or perhaps a pet or some other animal, Bradford said.
Search dogs also found an area where more remains might be among the rubble, but investigators by Sunday evening hadn't yet determined what is there, Bradford said.
Bradford declined to say how Sunday's discoveries might be related to three people -- believed to be two women and a man -- who are still missing after fire destroyed the 76-unit apartment building. Authorities have not released the missing people's names.
Relatives say they think one of the missing is Jose Gonzalez, a 50-year-old electrician who hasn't been heard from since Thursday night and whose truck is parked in the complex's lot.
Ryan Loffland said his girlfriend, a University of Kansas student who lived in the apartment complex, is among the missing. She hasn't been heard from since shortly before the fire broke out, when she told Loffland by telephone that she was going to sleep.
Investigators still want to talk with as many of the apartment's residents -- and anyone else with information about the fire -- as possible, Bradford said. Anyone with information or with videotapes of the fire is asked to call investigators at (785) 832-7600.
More than 30 local, state and federal investigators on Sunday used backhoes and skid loaders to remove debris from the center of the burned apartment building. Another 40 worked away from the site to find and interview as many witnesses as possible to reconstruct events, Bradford said.
The investigation will continue this morning, Bradford said, and investigators hope to begin searching for the fire's cause. He also said he didn't know when those efforts would be sufficiently completed so that residents could return to what is left of their apartments to gauge their losses or salvage what they can.
"It might be three days, it might be five days or two weeks," Bradford said.
The fire caused an estimated $2.1 million in damage and displaced 87 residents, including 32 University of Kansas students. At least 18 people were injured, two critically.
Distributed by the Associated Press
