I came to Websleuths to see if there was a thread on this horrible fire and to get an idea of what others are speculating. It's been all over the news here in the DC metro area. It seems 4 of the 6 bodies have been recovered now.
Since I didn't see anyone else answer the question, the reason why it is the Boone/Pyle families is because the two sons, who lost their children in this fire, are Don Pyle's stepsons. Reading the news articles, Don met Sandy at his first job out of college. She was a bit older than him (I think 6 years older) and the sons were hers from a previous relationship. Sounds like he raised them as his own, but that is why their last names are different than his.
Also, I know one outlet was reporting that the two sons lived with the Pyles in their home but that is not correct. It looks like both of the other families/sons lived nearby and the grandparents/Don & Sandy were having a sleepover with the 4 kids Sunday and overnight into Monday, as they didn't have school on Monday because of the MLK holiday. One of the sons, the one with the two daughters, also has a newborn boy, who was not in the house during the fire/was with his parents.
I guess anything is possible at this point but it does seem hard to imagine that this was a murder/suicide. Why involve the children? And living on the water, if that was the case, he could have made it look like an accident if he went out boating and then suddenly disappeared/drowned.
Pyle seemed to be very well-respected and self made guy. His "thing" seemed to be developing tech companies and spinning them off/selling them to larger companies. He'd done that multiple times and that's how he made his fortune. Cyber security is a lucrative field and he might have joined this Reston firm in order to guide them into another acquisition scenario, for which he seemed to really be well versed.
On the news, they interviewed a man who came to the house's gate to lay flowers at it. He said he used to work for Pyle and he was one of the best bosses he'd ever had and was just an all around great guy. The man was visibly upset and had tears in his eyes. It sounds like everyone who knew them really liked them.
Those poor parents. They just lost their mother, their stepfather and their children all at once. All that is left is them and the one little baby grandson. They stand to inherit a fortune but I'm sure they would give every single penny away if it would bring back their family. Their lives just changed forever in an instant.
I hope the investigators figure out what transpired. My one nagging question is how a house of that size, with probably hundreds of thousands spent on installing smart technology, did not have some sort of water spray extinguisher system installed. I know someone else in this thread said that many people don't install them because they might ruin artworks and antiques with water damage but you would think they could be zoned to minimize that.
Really horrible stuff. They really seemed like nice people who, even for all their wealth and riches, were very down to earth. Hearing that they took the grandkids to Target to buy costumes that they could wear to go to Medieval Times the night the fire happened sounds like something I would do with my own family, and we are certainly not millionaires. I really hope they did not suffer in this fire and the smoke took them fast. :-/
Since I didn't see anyone else answer the question, the reason why it is the Boone/Pyle families is because the two sons, who lost their children in this fire, are Don Pyle's stepsons. Reading the news articles, Don met Sandy at his first job out of college. She was a bit older than him (I think 6 years older) and the sons were hers from a previous relationship. Sounds like he raised them as his own, but that is why their last names are different than his.
Also, I know one outlet was reporting that the two sons lived with the Pyles in their home but that is not correct. It looks like both of the other families/sons lived nearby and the grandparents/Don & Sandy were having a sleepover with the 4 kids Sunday and overnight into Monday, as they didn't have school on Monday because of the MLK holiday. One of the sons, the one with the two daughters, also has a newborn boy, who was not in the house during the fire/was with his parents.
I guess anything is possible at this point but it does seem hard to imagine that this was a murder/suicide. Why involve the children? And living on the water, if that was the case, he could have made it look like an accident if he went out boating and then suddenly disappeared/drowned.
Pyle seemed to be very well-respected and self made guy. His "thing" seemed to be developing tech companies and spinning them off/selling them to larger companies. He'd done that multiple times and that's how he made his fortune. Cyber security is a lucrative field and he might have joined this Reston firm in order to guide them into another acquisition scenario, for which he seemed to really be well versed.
On the news, they interviewed a man who came to the house's gate to lay flowers at it. He said he used to work for Pyle and he was one of the best bosses he'd ever had and was just an all around great guy. The man was visibly upset and had tears in his eyes. It sounds like everyone who knew them really liked them.
Those poor parents. They just lost their mother, their stepfather and their children all at once. All that is left is them and the one little baby grandson. They stand to inherit a fortune but I'm sure they would give every single penny away if it would bring back their family. Their lives just changed forever in an instant.
I hope the investigators figure out what transpired. My one nagging question is how a house of that size, with probably hundreds of thousands spent on installing smart technology, did not have some sort of water spray extinguisher system installed. I know someone else in this thread said that many people don't install them because they might ruin artworks and antiques with water damage but you would think they could be zoned to minimize that.
Really horrible stuff. They really seemed like nice people who, even for all their wealth and riches, were very down to earth. Hearing that they took the grandkids to Target to buy costumes that they could wear to go to Medieval Times the night the fire happened sounds like something I would do with my own family, and we are certainly not millionaires. I really hope they did not suffer in this fire and the smoke took them fast. :-/