Two women found dead after a Northwest Side fire Thursday have been identified.
The fire started in a basement apartment in the 4500 block of West Parker just before 11:40 p.m., according to Fire Media Affairs.
One woman was found in a basement stairwell and the other was found in a back basement room, a police source said. The unit had no smoke detectors, fire officials said.
Samantha Welch, 28, and Celiacruz Reyes, 22, of the 100 block of Birch in Carpentersville, were both pronounced dead at the scene, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. A home address for Welch was not available Tuesday evening.
Autopsies performed Friday were inconclusive pending the results of an investigation by police and fire officials.
Firefighters said the building itself was never on fire, but something in the apartment was, so officials are viewing the blaze as suspicious.
The women were a couple and both worked and went to school. A man lived in the apartment too, a neighbor said, but he hadn't been seen in about a week.
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The police department’s Bomb and Arson Unit is investigating.