The Solano County Coroner’s Office has determined the identity of the human remains found during a Vallejo house fire last week.

However, the coroner is withholding the person’s name while police continue to investigate, because they are calling the fire ‘suspicious’.

People who live in the area believe their neighbor, who is reported missing, is the person who died.

Nearly a week has passed since human remains were discovered in a burned-out home on Sawyer Street in Vallejo.

“You know, they actually took a body out, so that’s kind of scary,” Pamela Paige, a neighbor, said.

Shortly after 37-year-old Kimberly Bernard was reported missing last Wednesday.

Vallejo police officers stopped by Bernard’s house and noticed it was on fire across from Pamela Paige’s house.

“From seeing them carrying it out the house, the body out the house, it looks like her,” Paige said.

“It was tall enough to be her. It was long enough on the stretcher. So, I’m praying it not, but in my heart, I feel it was,” Lowanna Newell-Bishop, another neighbor, said.

The police department is leading this investigation and is not sharing specific details of the case. Other than that, the fire is considered suspicious.

The coroner’s office says they identified the remains but the information is “protected” and can only be released by the police department.

The Vallejo Fire Department says it has also completed its investigation into how the fire started but that determination also has to be announced by police.

Neighbor Lowanna Newell-Bishop says Kimberly lived with her kids and boyfriend and, that the boyfriend hasn’t been seen since the day of the fire.

“And, what’s so weird about that is because he would make sure he waved at everybody and spoke at everybody, to like, ‘yeah, I’m here — this is mine,’ you know, so, that’s what’s really strange to me. And, what’s even more strange is her van is not, was not here all day Wednesday, and it was here Tuesday night when I got out of Bible study,” Newell-Bishop said.

Neighbors fear a domestic dispute may result in this missing person case turning into a homicide investigation.

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