Trans Woman Found Burned Beyond Recognition in House Fire

She has been missing since July.

Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

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Mikelle Street

September 12 2019 6:03 AM EST

November 04 2024 9:53 AM EST

MikelleStreet

The remains of a 55-year-old Black trans woman were uncovered in a mysterious North Carolina fire last month. According to reports, the woman, who is being referred to as "Bubba" has been missing since July.

A home in Charlotte, North Carolina that was under construction caught fire on July 27. At the time, officials said the home was unoccupied as the building had been stripped down to bare walls in order for it to be converted into office space. The cause of the fire was undetermined. The blaze is said to have taken 23 firefighters 30 minutes to put out the fire and caused the structure to collapse. This made it unsafe for investigators to enter.

Three days later an insurance investigator found the remains of a body, burned beyond recognition, at the site. The body was initially identified as male, but now has come to be identified as a trans woman who had been missing since July who went by Bubba.

Questions have arisen around why the fire officials didn't find the body in their initial search. They have asserted that there was no indication that anyone would have been in the building as it was under construction, and that the state of the building after the fire made it too unsafe to risk a firefighter entering it.

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\u201ca Black trans woman named Bubba was murdered in Charlotte \ud83d\udc94 so many Black trans girls killed in NC and everywhere this year. \n\n( this happen in my area where i live i never felt more unsafe)\n\nwhat are we doing to address this violence personally and collectively?\n\n#TWOC\u201d
— C L A R A .(they/them) is on @mastodon (@C L A R A .(they/them) is on @mastodon) 1568071724

Bee Love Slater, who became the 18th trans person killed, earlier this month, was found bound and set on fire in Florida.