Friends have identified the Toronto husband and wife killed after a cottage burned down in a small village northeast of Peterborough on Saturday morning.
Geoff Taber and Jacqueline Gardner of Toronto were inside their cottage in McCrackens Landing on Stoney Lake on Saturday when it caught fire.
The couple’s two sons were also believed to be inside the cottage when it caught fire.
Two bodies were later recovered by emergency service workers, according to a news release from the OPP on Monday afternoon.
Two dogs also perished in the fire.
The family lived in the Riverdale area and had been travelling to the lake for 9 or 10 years, a local businessman from the McCrackens Landing area told CP24 on Sunday.
The parents—both lawyers – purchased a new cottage on the lake within the last couple of years and were looking forward to spending Christmas there, the local businessman said, who did not wish to be named.
Geoff was an avid cyclist. His neighbour in Riverdale posted on Facebook that he went on a “tribute ride” on his bicycle on Monday to honour his memory.
Investigators with the Office of the Fire Marshal were at the scene Sunday to search through the rubble of the devastated cottage.
Ontario Provincial Police Const. Jason Folz told CP24 on Sunday that there is still no indication as to how the fire started.
He said it’s hard to say how long it will take investigators to complete their work as the cottage was almost completely destroyed.
