Teen's burnt body found hugging dead pooch in Maui home destroyed by wildfire
Amid the aftermath of the destructive Maui wildfires that incinerated at least 115 people, two parents discovered their adopted teen's corpse cuddling his dead dog. They carried him about half a mile to a nearby police station.
14-year-old Maui student Keyiro Fuentes spent the last day of his Summer vacation at home with his dog in his Lahaina neighborhood, which, unbeknownst to him, was about to be swallowed by a destructive flame, CBS reported.
Five miles away, Keyiro's mother, Luz Vargas watched as large dark smoke clouds began engulfing the neighborhood knowing her son was at home. She described feeling intense anguish and despair as she couldn't do anything to help her son survive the disaster.
Luz Vargas, Keyiro's adoptive son, felt intense anguish as she watch smoke clouds enter her neighborhood from five miles away (CBS News WS)She tried to get to her son multiple times, from begging Maui police to give her car passage through their barriers to attempting to reach Keyiro by foot despite deterrence from concerned neighbors saying "don't go," according to HawaiiNewsNow. "But it's my son," she told them. When all else failed, Luz turned to god and prayed that Keyiro would make it out.
Keyiro's corpse was found in his Maui home hugging his dead dog (Luz Vargas/Facebook)“I threw myself on the floor, lifted my hands up, and begged God,” she recalled, saying that she was told to maintain faith that her son had managed to escape.
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Two days later, Luz and her husband were finally able to enter their residence, or what was left of it, to see whether their son had made it out. Heartbreakingly, the teen's dark, charred body lay on the floor grasping his dead dog.
The family was getting ready to celebrate Keyiro's 15th birthday (CBS News WS)The parents ceremoniously covered his body with a tarp and, in tears, carried him for about half a mile to the closest police station. Police said a DNA test was in the works to officially identify the burnt body as Keyiro. His biological parents are of Mexican descent, so they must provide a sample for the test to proceed.
“He was not as I expected, in ashes,” Luz said referring to the Keyiro's body that was believed to have been protected by the intense heat. “God maintained him like this. So, we knew it was him.”
Luz decided to perform a 180 and celebrate her son's life instead of mourning; after all, the family was getting ready to watch Keyiro enjoy his upcoming 15th birthday. The family spent the rest of the day holding a vigil for their deceased member, in which his brother, Josue Garcia Vargas, expressed how he wished he could've spent more time with Keyiro while Luz shared that she was certain the young teen would've grown up to be a fine man had he's been given more time.
Maui officials are still trying to identify the victims of the wildfires, which could possibly take months given that some of them had no family nearby in the state.
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