Crime & Safety

Report Indicates Father Died Trying to Save Daughter in Daleford Road Fire

Jance Reynolds and his daughter Mary Paige died in a December 2012 fire; new details indicate that rumors about Jance trying to save Mary Paige were accurate

A fire investigation report reveals details of the December 2012 Daleford Road fire that killed Jance and Mary Paige Reynolds.

The cause of the fire remains undetermined, but investigators believe it was unintentional.

The report appears to confirm rumors that Jance Reynolds died in an effort to save his daughter’s life.

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According to witness statements, Jance, his wife, their three daughters, and two others who friends have told Patch are relatives of the Reynolds family, were in the home at around 4 a.m.

One of the family’s relatives, a man, was awake in a second floor library, talking on the phone. He reported that he smelled and saw the smoke first, and he climbed out the window of the library, onto an SUV in the driveway and into the yard.

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Then he called 9-1-1. during which the man and others are heard yelling for their family members to jump.

The report says that, at this time, four family members — the mother, the two youngest daughters and their second relative, jumped out the window of a second-story bedroom where they had gathered.

Jance Reynolds and his oldest daughter were the only ones left in the home, and his wife told investigators that Jance Reynolds was trying to rescue his daughter, who lived with disabilities.

His wife does not remember Mary Paige verbally responding before she left the room, she told investigators.

UPDATE: Neighbor Says Smell of Smoke from Daleford House Fire Was 'Overbearing'

Daleford Fire: Shaker Heights Lost a Pillar

Daleford Road Fire Topic Page


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