Dec. 13--A waste disposal company made a surprising discovery Thursday morning, police said.
A driver with Deffenbaugh Disposal discovered a body among fire debris at 2015 Union St. during routine trash collection, said Capt. Janice Rothganger. The Fire Department had put out a fire at a garage there a week ago.
"When the (disposal company) arrived in the alley, there was a garage that burned over the weekend ... when they approached the Dumpster, they realized there were human remains (in the fire debris)," she said. "We are investigating who that person is, how they died and how they got to be there."
Ms. Rothganger said the woman and her son who live in the rental home on the property are accounted for.
The body was primarily discovered intact, but appeared to have been burnt. Fire Prevention Chief Kenny Cordonnier said battalion chiefs do not typically call a fire investigator to a structure fire until there is evident damage more than $25,000.
"Unless there is an injury or a fatality," Mr. Cordonnier added. "The body was covered ... but it was just something that was not seen."
Battalion Chief Paris Jenkins responded to the garage fire shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 7. He told FOX 26 KNPN no one was injured. He said 14 firefighters extinguished the blaze, and the structure was a total loss of between $4,000 and $5,000.
"The Fire Department accepts the responsibility, because it is our responsibility at fire scenes to find any victims," said Fire Chief Mike Dalsing. "This was a location that would not normally have a person inside of it.
"But we found out today from people in the area that there had been some traffic in and out of there, as it was kind of a hang-out for homeless or (others).
"We do tell our firefighters and battalion chiefs that we will risk a lot to save a lot. But we are not going to risk a lot to save a little. We have 40 to 50 garage fires a year. Once our crews arrived and after the roof collapsed, the odds of survival were very, very, very slim."
Police said the body is scheduled for an autopsy today.
"There are no missing persons reported in our jurisdiction, so we really don't have much to go on at this moment," Ms. Rothganger said. "It's a death scene investigation, but we investigate everything from the very beginning as a homicide until it leads us to something else."
Anyone with information is asked to called the TIPS Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.
Kristin Hoppa can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @SJNPHoppa.
Copyright 2012 - St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
