Kingman residents mourn deaths of four family members

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Residents of Kingman are remembering four family members who died in central California last weekend after moving there from northwest Arizona about six months ago.

The Madera County sheriff's office has preliminarily determined that two girls, their uncle and their grandmother died of carbon-monoxide poisoning at their residence in Oakhurst, Calif. They are identified as Jayden Montoya, 8; Alexis Montoya, 10; Diana Montoya, 60; and Bruce Hargett, 35. The girls' mother, Marina Montoya, survived.

Kingman resident Julie Sides said she has been Marina's best friend for many years. Sides said the family moved to be closer to relatives in California.

Sides said she was present for the births of Marina's daughters.

"They were very special little girls; extremely intelligent, both of them, very beautiful with curly hair," Sides said. "They loved animals. They loved the outdoors. They loved camping. Their favorite spot was Yosemite and they camped there as often as they could."

Sides said the sisters were involved in the local 4-H club and their grandmother was a club leader who was heavily involved with the annual Mohave County Fair.

"Diana worked at the county fair every year since I've known her," Sides said. "This is the first year she was not at the county fair."

Sheriff's office spokeswoman Erica Stuart said a gas-powered generator saturated the home with deadly fumes. She said the generator was being used to power the residence as electric service had been discontinued three days before the tragedy.

Stuart said investigators found a fan that was being used to push the fumes out of the home had somehow become unplugged.

"The bottom line to all of this is that generator should never have been in that home," Stuart said. "It should have been outside."

Stuart said Marina awoke early Sunday afternoon and called 911 after finding her mother was unresponsive.

"When paramedics were en route she's running from room to room discovering that no one was responding," Stuart said.

She said responders found two dead dogs in the residence, but somehow Marina and several other pets survived.