Pima County officials identify 2 victims from charred SUV

PHOENIX - The Pima County Medical Examiner has confirmed two members from a missing Tempe family were among five found dead Saturday in a vehicle fire.

Dr. Gregory Hess, Chief Medical Examiner in Pima County, on Thursday afternoon told ABC15 he had positively identified two of the victims as Yafit and James Butwin.

The bodies of the remaining three victims found in the charred SUV are presumed to be the couple's three children.

Dental records provided Wednesday to Hess were not enough to determine whether Yafit and James Butwin's bodies were among the five sets of human remains.

Hess said additional records -- digital images and clearer copies of their X-rays -- were transported to his office Thursday morning.

Hess is also expecting to receive records from the children's orthodontist to help in possibly identifying the three other people found inside the vehicle. Daniel, Malissa, and Matthew each had received orthodontic care, he said. 

Hess said he would compare radiographs supplied by the orthodontist with X-rays his staff had taken of the charred remains and hoped to have them identified by Friday.

THE DETAILS

On Tuesday, Tempe police confirmed the missing family of five was linked to a burned vehicle found in Pinal County's Vekol Valley .

The torched SUV was discovered Saturday, with five bodies inside it. The vehicle is registered to the Butwin family household in Tempe, according to Tempe police.

Tempe police said they are investigating the family's disappearance as a murder-suicide based on "suspicious and concerning evidence inside the home," on the 9300 block of Kenneth Place in Tempe.

The two parents were going through a divorce.