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NEHAWKA – A family of six was killed in an early morning house fire northeast of Weeping Water, but the cause remained under investigation late Thursday.

Nebraska State Fire Marshal investigators couldn't confirm the number of deaths in the rural Cass County home at 10014 McKelvie Road, according to a news release. But a family member said on Facebook that Mike and Michelle Speer and their four daughters, Elli, Adilynn, Emma and Anniston, were killed.

Autopsies will be performed following recovery efforts, the release said.

Late Thursday afternoon, investigators patrolled the property as fire crews sprayed water on the charred remains of the white two-story farmhouse, located in a grove of trees surrounded by soybeans along a gravel road.

Part of the green-shingled roof lay on the pile of ashes with the chimney the only part of the house intact.

“It’s basically a two-story house, and it’s completely on the ground,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Adam Matzner told Flood Communications. “We don’t have any walls standing.”

A neighbor called 911 reporting people were inside the burning home just after midnight Thursday, the release said.