Man in Portage la Prairie suspicious deaths investigation released from custody

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE -

A residential street in Portage la Prairie, Man. remained cordoned off Monday as the RCMP investigated the suspicious deaths of three people following a house fire.

A man taken in custody Sunday has been released, officers said in an update shared with media Monday afternoon.

The bodies were discovered in a home at the intersection of 7th Street SE and Duke Ave. early Sunday morning in the community, which is about 85 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

Police are treating the deaths as suspicious but aren’t saying how the three people died.

RCMP said emergency crews were called to the fire around 1 a.m. Sunday. After it was put out, three people were discovered dead inside the home.

“It just got me very unwell with what I heard,” said Rose Neault, who lives nearby and woke up to the flashing lights of emergency vehicles.

Neault said she didn’t know the people who lived in the home but neighbours who asked not to be identified told CTV News a couple and three children lived in the suite on the south side of the duplex police have been focused on.

“It’s really, really affected a lot of people in the neighbourhood,” Neault said. “You know people that have young children and stuff like that.”

“They’re just devastated. It’s a hard thing to accept.”

The RCMP said forensic identification officers and major crime investigators are working to “move this investigation forward.”

The Mounties are also working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine how the people inside the home died and to confirm their identities.

The RCMP said it hopes to provide additional details Tuesday.