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KD Investigates: Couple Living A Nightmare, Still No Answers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- "We want to enjoy some years that we have left and we're not able to do this and not sure if we ever will be."

It's 95 days and counting since this elderly Finleyville couple were forced from their home by a mysterious gas explosion that blew the planks off their deck.

Three months of sleeping at relatives' and eating in diners has clearly taken their toll on Joyce and Harry Hill.

"Well I'm having a pain in my neck, stress, can't sleep, lost about 8 pounds already which is not bad, but not the way to do it," said Harry.

All this time, the Hills have been trying to get answers from an alphabet soup of government agencies -- the DEP, the PUC, the EPA -- but none have been able to determine the exact source of the gas. It's beyond frustrating -- the worst came this week when they checked on the house and found the door lock broken.

"We ran upstairs to find our home turned upside down, things destroyed," said Joyce.

They didn't want our camera in the house to survey the damage, but did show us a safe that the thieves tried to open with a crowbar.

Now against the advice of the gas company, the Hills have decided to stay in the house around the clock -- with no gas and no electricity.

"We have come back to this house to stay to protect what we have left," said Joyce.

Peoples Gas and two state agencies have run test after test searching for a source, but the Public Utilities Commission says they're conducting a new round -- because all of these have been inconclusive.

The PUC tells KDKA that the Hills' safety is paramount, but state representative Rick Saccone says he'll get all agencies in a room and get an answer as soon a humanly possible.

"Bring it to a resolution so these people can get back in their own home. They've spent enough time out of it, and the bureaucracy has had enough to time to figure this out," he said. "So I'm going to step it up as much as I can."

But for now, the nightmare not only continues it keeps getting worse, but we will stay on this story until there is some resolution and the Hills are back in their home.

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