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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities say a woman found dead following a suburban Pittsburgh basement fire may have died before the flames broke out.
Allegheny County officials said the woman’s husband said he left the Penn Hills home Friday morning to run errands and returned to find smoke coming from the residence.
Emergency services director Matthew Brown said the man reported the fire shortly after 1 p.m. Friday and said he pulled his wife from the home. Attempts to revive her were unsuccessful.
Brown said the preliminary investigation indicates that she died before the fire began. Officials said there weren’t any clear signs of trauma or foul play.
The medical examiner’s office identified the woman as 67-year-old Rita Ryan. An autopsy is planned to determine the cause and manner of death.
