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4 From Mass. Die In Apparent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In Maine Cabin

Four young people from Massachusetts, including a brother and sister, were found dead Friday in Maine in an apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Oxford County Sheriff's Department.

Two men and two women along with a pet dog — a beagle — were found dead by the siblings' father in a cabin in Byron, Maine, said Oxford County District Sheriff Wayne Gallant.

The Oxford County Sheriff's Department identified the victims Saturday afternoon as Brooke Wakelin, who would have turned 22 Saturday, from Attleboro; Matthew Wakelin, 18, from Mansfield; Keith Norris, 23, from Attleboro; and Deanna Powers, 22, from Mansfield.

Gallant said he believes the victims had been dead for several days when they were found. The department has determined that the four arrived at the camp Tuesday afternoon.

The cabin does not have electricity so it is powered by a generator in the basement. Gallant said the evidence is not conclusive, but they believe that once they arrived at the camp, they put gas in the generator and started it while it was still in the building.

Gallant said he believes that "maybe sometime that night or early Wednesday morning they were all overcome by carbon monoxide."

"We found the generator had exhausted all its fuel and was not running when we got there," he said.

All four individuals have been transported to two local funeral parlors in Rumford, Maine, and will be transported to Maine's Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, where there will be autopsy and toxicology tests.

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