If the account of "struggling to get the nose up" is correct, I don't think it would be an aft cg issue. The forward cg limit is usually set based upon elevator authority for rotation. The aft cg based on maintaining a positive static margin for stability reasons. If you exceed the aft limit, the issue is usually loss of longitudinal stability, and an inability to get the nose down, not up.
The idea of a power problem and trying to land on the highway, and stalling, is what I am going with at the moment.
Very sad., RIP.
As someone said in an earlier post, the idea of staying in the pattern and circling to gain altitude at an airport surrounded by urban sprawl, is not a bad idea.