Crime & Safety

Body Found in Murrieta Apartment Fire Identified by Coroner

The cause and manner of 23-year-old Shanae Wesley's death was still pending investigation Friday, a coroner's official told Patch.

Authorities released the name Friday of a woman discovered dead Wednesday morning when a fire broke out in a Murrieta apartment.

Shanae Wesley, 23, was identified by the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's Office as the victim. The cause and manner of her death are still pending investigation, the coroner's office told Patch.

Wesley's deceased body was found inside the burning apartment at Waterstone, 24850 Hancock Ave., unit V-103, just before 7 a.m. Wednesday as Murrieta fire crews searched for victims.

Find out what's happening in Murrietawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A 3- to 4-year-old boy was rescued from the flames by an off-duty seasonal CAL FIRE Riverside County firefighter, The Press-Enterprise reported.

Murrieta police have not confirmed whether the boy was Wesley's son.

Find out what's happening in Murrietawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As of this post, no update in the ongoing investigation into Wesley's death was available from Murrieta police.

Residents of Waterstone apartments are at a loss—such as Kristina Economos, who lives one building from Wesley's apartment.

Economos told Patch she walked her dog at 6:30 a.m. the morning of the fire, at which time she neither saw nor heard anything.

"My dog stopped in front of Shanae's balcony...and did nothing," Economos said Friday. "Normally if she hears anything she jumps, but she did nothing, nothing. She sniffed around; I heard nothing. And we turned around and came back home."

At 6:45 a.m., Economos said she came back downstairs with her daughters, and that is when she knew something was wrong.

"You could see all the smoke and the Fire Department was just showing up," Economos said. "You could hear the glass break. The flames—they were just outrageous, they were huge."

Economos said she has since been interviewed by two Murrieta police detectives. Other neighbors also confirmed they were quizzed as to what they remember from that morning.

Murrieta police continue to investigate Wesley's death as suspicious, but told Patch releasing details to the public through the media could jeopardize their work.

Until then, neighbors such as Economos continue to speculate.


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