Chatham-Kent police responded this week to concerns raised by Bayli Sellars’ family members about what they described as a frustrating lack of information about the investigation into the young Chatham woman’s death.
“As you can imagine, any death investigation is complex and takes time,” Det. Cole Abbott said in an email.
The 22-year-old woman was found dead by local firefighters inside an Edgar Street house on June 25 while responding to a fire at the residence.
Some family members recently reached out to the Chatham Daily News about their growing frustration about the trickle of information they’ve received from police investigators.
Family members said investigators hadn’t provided a cause of death or any other details about the probe into the house fire.
Abbott said police had “remained in constant communication with (their) family contact since the onset of this investigation.”
“Any concerns the family has we will deal with them directly in order to protect the integrity of the investigation,” he added.
Since it remains an active investigation, Abbott said no further information would be released at this time.
Both the police department’s major crimes section and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office were called to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fatal blaze.
The Ontario Fire Marshal confirmed earlier this week its investigation has concluded.
A spokesperson warned, however, that, “generally speaking, findings within the (Ontario Fire Marshal) report are not made public.”
The spokesperson said a freedom-of-information request was required to obtain more details about the investigation.
The family still wants anyone who may know something about the fire or Bayli’s death to contact investigators.