Man arrested after family of four killed in Port Angeles trailer park fire



PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- Port Angeles police arrested a person of interest who may be connected to a fire that ripped through a trailer park early Saturday morning and killed a family of four.

Matthew Wetherington, 34, is due in court Monday to face charges of first-degree arson and four counts of first-degree murder.

Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith said police got a 911 call around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. When first responders got on scene, a trailer was already engulfed in flames. The flames had stretched to a nearby trailer and the person inside was forced to a use a window to escape, said Smith.

He says when the flames were out, investigators found a terrible discovery inside the trailer: the bodies of four people.

The victims have not been identified by the medical examiner's office yet, but the family of four who lived inside -- 34-year-old Valerie Kambeitz, 9-year-old Lilly Kambeitz, 6-year-old Emma Kambeitz and 5-year-old Jayden Kambeitz -- has not been seen since the fire. Wetherington, the man who's charged with their deaths -- is Valerie Kambeitz' husband.

“I know the family. I see it (the fire) coming out of their trailer, out of the bedroom the kids are in. So, that’s what I’m thinking is, 'Did they get out?'” said Russell Smith.

Smith says he saw the flames from his home and called 911.

He says everyone in the neighborhood is worried for the Kambelitz family.

"It's a wonderful family missing from us," Smith said.