Body Found in Wisconsin House Three Days After Fire

Milwaukee police discovered the body of a female Monday morning inside a Riverwest house that had been damaged in a fire Friday night.

Officers were at a duplex in the 1100 block of E. Center St. following up on a missing person investigation involving the owner of the home, police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said in a news release.

"We continue to work on this investigation including the identification of the body found today," she said. "At this point, we have no further information to share on this incident."

The Milwaukee Fire Department responded to a fire in the house at 11:27 p.m. Friday and helped police do a forced entry to do a search in the debris Monday around 11:15 a.m. Monday, a fire department official said. That's when they found the body.

Firefighters generally do a thorough investigation after a fire to determine cause and origin, the official said.

Court and city records show the house belongs to the Rev. Mary Ellen Freundl, an ordained ministerial counselor with Pathways of Light. A missing-persons report on Freundl was filed with Milwaukee police shortly after the fire.

Schwartz said police have not identified the body.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service