Children thought dead in fire are missing

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UNIONVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Police said two children initially believed to be killed in a house fire in Tennessee weren't found in the rubble and are now listed as missing.

At the time of the fire Sunday at the Unionville home of Leon and Molli McClaran, police said the couple and their grandchildren, Chloie Leverette, 9, and Gage Daniel, 7, had all died.

After an investigation of the scene of the fire, officials said they only found the bodies of the McClarans, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Thursday.

"The state fire marshal's office has concluded, based on extensive examination of the Bed ford County scene by our office and [Middle Tennessee State University's] Forensic Anthropology Group, that there are no remains of the two children in the structure," said Christopher Garrett, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.

"The children's location at this time is unknown," he added.

Kristin Helm, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said the children had been living with their grandparents for "quite awhile."

The children's mother and Gage's father had been investigated by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services between 2006 and 2010, though a spokesman for the agency wouldn't release specifics of the investigation.

Garrett said fire officials are working to determine the cause of the fire.