CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Police are investigating a house fire that killed a Charlottesville elementary school teacher and her daughter as a homicide.
Crews were called around midnight Friday after a fire broke out at a home on Rugby Avenue not far from the University of Virginia.
When firefighters arrived, they found intense flames on the home's lower level. Crews said by that time the first floor had started to collapse. They found two bodies in the home.
Charlottesville Polics say these two pictures below are of the victim's car, a 2003 Toyota Matrix. They say it was stolen from the home, and located at the Barracks West Apartments.
Police are asking he public for help, especially if someone spotted anything suspicious between 6 p.m. and midnight on Friday.
"If anyone saw a person with bloody clothing in the area of Barracks Road, Georgetown Road or the Barracks West apartment complex, or saw someone driving or parking this vehicle, please call the Charlottesville Police Department at 434 970-3280," Charlottesville police said.
Police also released this picture of the type of shoe they believe the killer may have been wearing at the time.
WCAV reportedSunday that police identified the victims as 58-year-old Robin Christine Aldridge and her daughter, 17-year-old Mani Viktoria Aldridge.
While an autopsy has not yet been completed, police said it appears the victims suffered severe blunt force trauma.
Officers think someone purposely set the fire and then took off in Robin Aldridge’s vehicle. Her car was later recovered at the Barracks West apartment complex on Barrick's Road.
Additionally, police seized a Dumpster from that location and are now are searching it for evidence.
Charlottesville City Public Schools released this statement Sunday:
"With heavy hearts, we are writing to confirm that on Friday night, there was a fire in the home of Mani Viktoria Aldridge, an eleventh-grader at Charlottesville High School, and her mother, Robin Aldridge, a teacher at Hollymead Elementary School in Albemarle County. Two were found dead in the fire, and we believe that these two were the Aldridges. This is a tremendous loss for our community as a whole and for our school divisions in particular."
Stay with WTVR.com and CBS 6 News for updates on this story.
