Vancouver police have identified the two bodies found in the rubble of the Winters Hotel via DNA, authorities announced on May 18.
One of the deceased is SRO resident Dennis Guay, who was reported missing on April 26 approximately two weeks after the fire. The other body was identified as Mary Garlow.
The massive four-alarm fire that broke out at the Gastown SRO on April 11 also left two people injured.
Officials confirmed on April 22 that the two bodies were found once the demolition of the SRO had already started. The first body was found that day in the afternoon and the second body later on in the evening. The findings put the demolition on hold until April 25.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services (VFRS) investigators believe that the cause of the fire was accidental and caused by unattended candles in a second-floor unit.
VFRS had shut off the sprinklers and issued a Notice of Violation following an earlier fire in the same building on May 8.
Both victims' next-of-kin have been notified.
