ALLENDALE, Mich. — A mother and her young son were found dead inside their burning mobile home on Saturday, leaving family members and authorities searching for answers.
Court documents obtained by FOX 17 Monday show the mom was in the process of losing her home, after the company who sold her the mobile home filed suit against her for payments not received.
The company filed a lawsuit on August 9, 2022, claiming Angelica was not making regular payments on her home.
A judgement was entered on November 28 in favor of the company suing her, giving them the right to seize the mobile home she was living in at the time of her death.
Following an autopsy over the weekend, investigators with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday that the 28-year-old mother, identified as Angelica Maria Del-Villar-Garcia, died from asphyxia due to smoke inhalation.
Officials believe her death was a suicide.
“Well, I can tell you we’re not looking for anyone else at this point… we don’t have any information throughout the investigation it would be anyone else, any other suspects, or persons of interest,” Captain Jacob Sparks of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said Monday afternoon.
Angelica’s 6-year-old son’s cause of death has not yet been determined.
“It’s a disturbing scene whenever there’s a death of a child,” Capt. Sparks said. “I think our job now is to get to the bottom of it, and get some answers.”
Officers showed up to the family’s home on Mont Blanc Lane in the Allendale Meadows mobile home park around 6:00 p.m. Saturday evening, after receiving a 911 call from a frantic family member.
“I noticed a really terrible burning smell, It smelled like garbage… it permeated my clothes and my hair,” a woman who lives near Angelica told FOX 17 on Monday. “I remember coming in the house and telling my kids, something's on fire.”
It wasn’t until around 2 hours later that she came back outside after hearing Angelica’s family member screaming.
“She was trying to tell us that she had already found their bodies, and we couldn't understand her,” the neighbor explained. “We were trying to bang on the back bedroom window, to try to wake up the two people.”
The fire department was able to get the fire contained relatively quick, creating an initial false sense of calm.
“They had said that the fire was contained on the stove, and I was really relieved because I thought then it wasn't that bad,” the neighbor said.
Once an officer made their way into the home, they quickly discovered the tragic scene.
“When he went in the back bedroom, he immediately came out and said ‘two dead on arrival’,” the neighbor explained.
FOX 17 spoke briefly to Angelica’s sister Monday afternoon— she did not want to comment on the situation, only saying that they still had no idea exactly what happened to her beloved family members.
The 6-year-old boy went to Evergreen Elementary in Allendale.
Superintendent Garth Cooper sent a letter to parents after the deadly fire, saying in part, “As many of you may have heard, our Allendale family suffered a tragedy yesterday when a house fire claimed the life of one of our Evergreen students and his mother. There are no words I can share that would express my profound sorrow, but on behalf of the district, I would like to send out our deepest sympathies to the family.”
The district also sent out a list of online resourcesfor young people dealing with grief.
The boy's cause and manner of death have not yet been released. Investigators said Monday they are waiting for his toxicology results to come back.
Michigan State Police arson investigators have established that it was an intentionally set fire, but have yet to work out its origin and cause.
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to reach out to the Sheriffs Office at (616) 738-4000, or Silent Observer at (877) 8874-5368.
