NEWPORT, Tenn. (WVLT)-- The Grassy Fork community is mourning the loss of one family who died after their home went up in flames Saturday night. Investigators are now trying to determine what caused the fire and who disappeared with the victims' car.

Relatives told Local 8 News that Terri Henderson, her boyfriend Sherman Ellison and their 2-year-old son Riley lived in the Henderson Rd. home that burned to the ground.

"He was always similing...just a cheerful little boy and well-behaved," said neighbor and friend, Amanda Hill. "He would have been 3 in August."

Christina Cowan, Terri's sister, told Local 8 News the couple had been living together at the home for the past 5 years. It was the home she and her sister grew up in.

"I'm still in disbelief. It doesn't feel real," she said.

According to the Cocke County Sheriff's Department, the fire happened just before 9 p.m Saturday.

By the time firefighters got there, the blaze had taken over the home and the roof had fallen in. Initially firefighters and neighbors thought the couple and child were safe.

"The car was gone and everybody just assumed they weren't home," Hill said.

But that wasn't the case.
The bodies of two adults and a child were found the very next day.

Investigators are now trying to figure out what lead to the fire and if it was intentional. Those answers could be behind the wheel of the missing car.

Authorities are looking for a white 2000 Nissan Maxima with a license tag number: 810YCW.