Missing Couple's Remains Confirmed As Those Found in Border Fire

Potrero, CA — The human remains found last Wednesday on a Potrero hillside were those of a couple reported missing as the Border Fire swept through rural southeastern San Diego County, authorities confirmed.

James Peter Keefe, 53, was identified in a San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office report as one of the bodies. His wife, whose name has not been released pending the notification of her next of kin, was the other body, the report stated.

The pair, who lived together in a travel trailer in Potrero, both died of fire- and smoke inhalation-related injuries, according to the report.

Neighbors from the Potrero community, who knew Keefe as "Barefoot Jim," discovered their remains at about 7 a.m. June 29 between two boulders, about 50-70 yards off the 28000 block of Highway 94 — 10 days after the Border Fire broke out.

The Border Fire scorched more than 7,600 acres, destroying five homes and nearly a dozen outbuildings.

San Diego County Sheriff's Spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said the address where the human remains were found was under mandatory evacuation orders the day the fire started.

Caldwell said a deputy from the Campo Sheriff's Substation was first notified about the couple possibly being missing on Sunday, June 26.

"The concerned citizen had no information on the address of the couple or their names," Caldwell said.

After obtaining the couple's address from the Red Cross on Monday, June 27, she said, the deputy opened a missing persons report and searched the property alongside Cal Fire personnel.

"They searched five structures, two vehicles, a trailer and the grounds, but did not locate the missing couple," Caldwell said. "As part of a missing person investigation, deputies also searched local hospitals and jails for the couple. The couple was entered into a national missing persons database."

The sheriff's bomb/arson unit and Cal Fire continued their search Tuesday, June 28, of the property, she said.

"Sheriff's Search and Rescue was scheduled to send a search dog, but it was diverted to Valley Center for a missing person at risk," Caldwell said.

"On Wednesday morning [June 29], Search and Rescue was planning to undertake a more comprehensive search and was meeting with deputies regarding the search area when local residents who launched their own search found the remains."

(Photo/County of San Diego)