By Peter Elacqua
Staff Writer
HOWELL – Police said there is no evidence of suspicious activity surrounding a house fire that claimed the life of a 50-year-old woman and a dog on May 31, but the cause of the fire had not been released to the public as of June 3.
On June 3, Howell police identified the victim of the fire as Debra L. Cataldo.
An obituary posted online by the Gephart Funeral Home, Bay City, Mich., stated that Debra Lynn Wood Cataldo was born on May 25, 1966 in Bay City. She earned a business degree from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich., and later moved to Boston where she worked for ADP Inc.
Cataldo is survived by her children, twins Jessica and John III, Julia, Joseph and Jiana; their father, John Cataldo, II; her mother, Patricia Cormier-Wood; a sister, a brother, and several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. A funeral service for Cataldo will be held at Our Lady of Peace Parish-St. Mary’s Church in Bay City on June 13, according to the obituary.
Howell police said that at 2:30 p.m. May 31, officers responded to a report of a house fire on West Fifth Street in the Freewood Acres section of the community. Police said an individual passing the home reported seeing windows being blown out of the residence.
Patrolman Thomas Matthews was first on the scene with firefighters from the Freewood Acres Fire Company. Police said the first responders observed the rear of the home engulfed in flames.
Firefighters from the Southard, Squankum and Adelphia fire companies of Howell responded to the scene, as did firefighters from Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Company No. 1. The Howell First Aid Squad also responded to the blaze.
Police said the fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes and sometime after that the bodies of Cataldo and the dog were discovered inside the home.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is being conducted by the Howell Police Department, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Howell Fire Bureau.
Staff Writer Mark Rosman contributed to this article.
