04:44 PM EST on Monday, January 3, 2005

By NICOLE KONKAL / 6NEWS

6NEWS

Fire completely destroyed the home.

STATESVILLE, N.C. -- A New Year's Day fire killed two young men and now firefighters say they may never know what sparked the flames. But the family says they will never be able to move on without some answers.

The fire started at a home more than a century old in Iredell County.

Byron Devore said his stepson Brandon Lowe, 20, and his best friend Matt Wilkerson, 19, lived in the home. Early New Year’s Day the home caught fire with both boys inside.

Brandon was the valedictorian at North Iredell High School where he and Matt graduated in 2003.

Ashley, Brandon’s twin sister, lives next door. She said her brother and Matt had friends over to celebrate the new year, but the friends left around 2 a.m. A few hours later the home was destroyed by smoke and flames.

Now Ashley looks at the ashes wondering how she will go on without her other half.

"It’s hard to have no one to share your birthday with after 20 years," she said.

Ashley said the boys had too much potential to leave this world so early.

"Brandon had musical talent, but Matt was the artist,” she said.

Fire investigators have not officially released the names of the victims and won’t until the autopsy reports come back this week.

Investigators hope that something in the autopsy report will help them determine what exactly happened the morning of the fire.

Fire investigators also said the home was built during the Civil War without fire stops or insulation, which is one reason why the home was destroyed in a matter of minutes.