COCHECTON, NY — Floarea Vladu was alone when her house at 114 Skinners Falls Road burnt to the ground in an early morning fire on October 4, 2024.

Vladu says just before the fire began, she heard people and footsteps and saw flashlights inside the house. The fire investigation, however, has determined no cause of the fire.

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s investigation report, written by Detective Robert Cintron, was “unable to substantiate Floarea’s belief that multiple unidentified suspects entered her home and set her home on fire.”

In discussing the results of the police investigation, which were available prior to the fire investigation results, Vladu maintains her story.

The fire investigation states, “[The] Area of origin and cause cannot be determined due to lack of evidence destroyed by fire and multiple possibilities of ignition source and are unknown if in use at the time of the fire. There were also multiple automobiles that burned but were affected by fire not cause.”

The fire investigation hypothesis was that the fire “originated within some part of the structure.”

The report includes a written account by the fire investigator Timothy Fink. Fink says he spoke with Vladu, who recounted she heard footsteps in the house and heard something being poured. Afterward, he said, “The team met up with the sheriff’s deputies and a sergeant of the sheriff’s office and we all concluded that her story was not matching up with what the fire was telling us. The team cannot eliminate any ignition source in or outside of the building.”

The report is not able to identify the origin or cause of the fire. “The team cannot build any hypothesis as to what may have started the fire. The team worked in conjunction with the Sullivan County Sheriff’s office and detectives, and are unable to find any criminality associated with this fire.” (See graph attached in photos.)

The final conclusion of the report simply states that the fire is unclassified.

Outside of the fire department personnel and law enforcement, the investigation included interviews with Vladu and the wife of the neighbor who called the fire into 911.

Vladu claims that after escaping her burning house, she knocked on the neighbor’s door and there was no answer.

In the fire report, the neighbor’s wife, speaking on behalf of her husband, who was home at the time, said he never saw Vladu on the ring camera knocking on the door.

The police report does not indicate anyone reviewing the ring camera footage or speaking with the neighbor himself.

The police investigation canvassed the area and listed interviews with six people, including neighbors and witnesses to the fire.

The police report concludes, “Upon review of the fire investigation report, his analysis of the fire scene, and neighbor interview, Detective Cintron is unable to substantiate Floarea Vladu’s belief that multiple unidentified suspects entered her home and set her home on fire. Detective Cintron cites the lack of witnesses, video surveillance, and physical evidence to be scientifically analyzed as the primary factor in closing this case pending additional viable leads.”