Lake County Sheriff: Cadaver dogs search for victims of Valley fire in Cobb and Middletown

Law enforcement officers with dogs trained to look for dead people were searching Wednesday afternoon in the Cobb Mountain area and Middletown, Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin said.

Deputies currently are investigating three cases involving four missing people in those two general areas, Martin said.

The sheriff gave limited details and declined to say where in those areas the searches were occurring. He did say the missing people are a couple - a man and a woman - and two individual men.

Martin said he didn't know the circumstances, including whether the people may have been trapped in their homes or if they couldn't get out of an area before the fire arrived.

The dogs, known as 'cadaver dogs,' were brought into Lake County from an outside agency.

Officials have said they expected there could be further fatalities from the fire. So far a 72-year-old Anderson Springs woman is the only known fatality.

For complete wildfire coverage go to: www.pressdemocrat.com/wildfire.