Officials ID man found strangled inside burning northwest Atlanta home

Crews with Atlanta Fire Rescue were on the scene of an early  morning fire on Harvel Drive July 3. Investigators later determined that a man and his wife were strangled before their home caught fire. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Crews with Atlanta Fire Rescue were on the scene of an early morning fire on Harvel Drive July 3. Investigators later determined that a man and his wife were strangled before their home caught fire. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

One week after firefighters found the bodies of a husband and wife inside their burning northwest Atlanta home, authorities have positively identified the man.

The couple was found July 3 badly burned and covered in debris inside the home on Harvel Drive. Police later determined they had been strangled before the residence caught fire.

The man was found in a hallway and the woman was found in a bedroom.

RELATED: Couple was strangled before Atlanta home fire, police say

The husband was identified Tuesday by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as 67-year-old Harry Hubbard, but investigators have not been able to identify his 65-year-old wife.

A family member told Channel 2 Action News the man and woman were veterans. They had been separated but were reconciling, the news station reported.

Neighbors plan to gather Tuesday at 7 p.m. outside the charred home in the 2400 block of Harvel Drive. They will pray for their community, for the Hubbard family’s loss and for answers.

Authorities have not yet determined how the fire started, and they haven’t identified any suspects in the couple’s deaths.

“More than 50 percent of that structure was damaged,” Atlanta police homicide commander Lt. Carven Tyus said at a press conference last week. “So right now, we can’t determine if someone forced entry into that house or if it was someone that they let into that house.”

But Atlanta fire Sgt. Cortez Stafford said it’s still early, and the investigation remains open.

“There have been no updates to the cause or the investigation over the last week or so,” Stafford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.