ATLANTA — Church members are identifying the couple found dead after a house fire Tuesday morning.
Pastor Darius Pridgen of True Bethel Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York told 11Alive the victims were two of his former parishioners, Deborah and Harry Hubbard.
Pridgen said he has been asked by family of the couple to begin funeral arrangements for them.
The 67-year-old man and 65-year-old woman were found inside their home off Harvel and H.E. Holmes Drives shortly after 4 a.m. July 3., after the fire department was called to the residence to put out a raging fire.
Crews found one of them in the rear of the home, while the other was found in the front.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner, who has yet to officially release the couples's identities, since determined the Hubbards died before the fire, ruling the cause of death as strangulation and "thermal injuries."
At this time, officials are not sure if the fire was intentionally set to cover up their murder; arson investigators are looking into that possibility and working to see if an accelerant was used to start the fire.
Officials said more than half of the home, and key evidence, was damaged, making it hard to figure out if there was forced entry into the home or if a suspect was let in.
Officials have not released the age or name of the victims at this time and the cause is still unknown, though the Atlanta Police Department is now taking the lead on the investigation.
PHOTOS | Deadly house fire in Atlanta leaves 2 dead
11Alive's Ryan Kruger spoke to neighbors of the couple, who were stunned by the turn in the case.
"It's astonishing that this is happening right next door," Harriet Brown said.
She said at first, she wasn't too concerned about the fire, because she thought the homeowners were out of town.
"I thought they had gone back to New York. I didn't think anybody was over there," she explained.
But when Brown found out how the couple died – strangled to death – it added a new layer of shock.
"This is an elderly couple, a quiet neighborhood, so it's very unusual that we had a fire, then come to find out that they were strangled and left in the location."
Meanwhile, police said they have no suspects, persons of interest or even a motive. Investigators are hoping witnesses will come forward to help them solve the case.
