BATTLE CREEK (WWJ) - Authorities have identified the Battle Creek-area couple who died of carbon monoxide poisoning earlier this week.
Police say 20-year-old Brandon Bull of Bronson and 19-year-old Cylie Canniff of Coldwater were killed inside a home early Wednesday morning and their five-month-old son survived.
The man who on Wednesday found the victims had been working on the home and using a generator and portable heater on Tuesday.
That machinery running in the home was apparently to blame for the deaths, according to Battle Creek police, which called it "a horrible accident."
The house was vacant but was being remodeled by a friend of the homeowner, police said in a release.
Bull, who was helping with the remodel, brought Canniff and the baby with him.
No one was supposed to be staying at the house, which did not have water or electrical service, police said, but the family ended up sleeping on an air mattress for the night, with the generator and heater running.
The baby was responsive and breathing when emergency responders arrived, which police have deemed "amazing," considering the amount of carbon monoxide in the house.
The contractor was told by the couple that they wouldn't say overnight, and that someone was picking them up Tuesday night.
Police said this incident should serve as a reminder to citizens not to use kerosene or gas heaters for a primary heat source or to operate generators inside buildings.
