A 13-year-old girl and her mother died in an early morning house fire in Cresson in Johnson County Friday.
Investigators, noting the intense nature of the fire, have not publicly identified the victims. But Granbury ISD early this morning did identify the 13-year-old girl. Destiny Yeager was an eighth-grader at Action Middle School.
"She was very sweet, she was good in school, very athletic," said neighbor Tiffany Delgado. "She had a lot to look forward to in her life."
Neighbors in an area called Bluebonnet Hills in Cresson said the fire broke out shortly after 2 a.m. at the home on Skyline Court. Molly McGuffey said she and her family arrived to find the house fully involved and a 37-year-old man outside the home.
"He was walking around with his head in his hands just screaming," McGuffey said of the man identified as the husband of the 31-year-old victim and stepdad of the 13-year-old girl. McGuffey said the man told her he jumped out of a bedroom window to escape the fire, that his wife was asleep on a couch, and they he couldn't get back into the home to save either of them.
"His wife was in the living room and he woke up and he could hear his daughter screaming and he couldn't get to her. He couldn't find her," said McGuffey.
Johnson County investigators could not immediately confirm the identity of the victims, believed to be Destiny Yeager and her mother. That official confirmation will come from a medical examiner.
As for the search for the cause, investigators including a state fire marshal combed through what was left of the home searching for an ignition source. All but the garage of the home was burned to the ground. Standard operating procedure also included an accelerant-sniffing dog.
But late Friday investigators had not yet indicated what the source of the fire might have been. Late Friday afternoon they closed the driveway gate to the home, tying it shut with crime scene tape.
"It's terrifying," said McGuffey.
The 37-year-old man was hospitalized with smoke inhalation, his injuries not considered life-threatening.