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Ritchie Bland told his son he was visiting friends and would be home soon. It was just before 12:38 a.m. May 3.

About 35 minutes later, a Suitland resident called police to report the nearby fiery ignition of Bland's 1999 two-door Buick in an apartment complex parking lot.

Almost two months have passed for uncertain family members, as fire and police officials continue to investigate the cause of the fire as well as the cause of Bland's death.

At 1:12 a.m., police responded to a report of a vehicle on fire at the Shadyside apartment complex on Darel Drive. The responding officer found the vehicle engulfed in flames and unsuccessfully tried to put out the mounting flames with a fire extinguisher, according to a police report.

His niece, Tanya Banks, 38, of Cheverly was notified by police a few hours after Bland died, and she visited the scene early the same morning, a Sunday.

Although Bland's vehicle had been removed from the scene, Tanya Banks said she could see significant fire damage where the vehicle had been parked, including a blackened tree, a hole-ridden fence and two charred vehicles bookending the spot.

"It seems like at this point there are still a lot of open questions," said Maj. Andy Ellis, chief Prince George's police spokesman. "It's a case that is out of the ordinary."

Bland, 41, of Washington, D.C., was a father of two boys and had worked as a security guard at the Smithsonian in the District for seven years.

He lived with his wife, Charlene, and his youngest son, 12-year-old Ritchie Bland Jr. Bland's older son, DeAndre Manning, 19, lives in North Carolina with relatives.

Described by family members as a man with a ready smile and an open heart, Bland loved children and was a father figure to Banks' 15-year-old son, Ritchie Bland's nephew, Ococie Banks.

According to Bland's family, he was last seen by his nephew and Ritchie Bland Jr. hours before the blaze. He had given Ococie a haircut and taken the two young men to a movie before dropping them off at his home and heading out to meet friends.

Hours passed, and Ritchie Bland Jr. called his father at 12:38 a.m. to see when he would be home. Bland answered and said he was out with friends and would be home soon.

Family members and police remain uncertain as to whom Bland may have been visiting that night.

During the phone conversation, his son reported hearing voices and music in the background, Banks said, noting that he could have been at a bar, or sitting in his car with friends.

Fire officials are still working to locate the cause and origin of the fire, said Mark Brady, chief spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department.

Fire investigators have not been able to determine the origin due to the high level of damage caused by the fire, he said, and are awaiting a lab analysis of items collected at the scene.

Banks said a preliminary toxicology report confirmed that Bland had been drinking and had a blood alcohol content higher than the legal limit at the time of his death. However, Ellis was unable to confirm this information and said he had not seen the toxicology report.

Family members said it was unlikely a smoking accident caused the blaze as Bland did not smoke cigarettes.

"He drank some, but he didn't smoke cigarettes," said his older sister, Bertha Bland of North Carolina.

Banks agreed that she had never seen her uncle smoke. "That's the puzzling part," she said.

As Bland's family members look for closure in his unexpected death, it's the unanswered questions that plague their thoughts.

"Somebody has got to know something," Bertha Bland said. "We don't even know who he was visiting in the area."

E-mail Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.