Body found in fire sent to Crime Lab

BATESVILLE — Authorities sent the body of a person found in a burned home in southeast Batesville to the state Crime Laboratory to determine the victim’s identity.

Batesville Police Chief Alan Cockrill said firefighters were called to a fire at 705 Gap Road at 3: 03 a. m. Monday. They found the home engulfed in flames, the chief said.

Officials later found the body of a person inside a back bedroom. Cockrill said the body was burned beyond recognition and authorities could not identify it.

Investigators have not determined a cause of the fire, but Cockrill said it appears it began in the back bedroom where the body was found.

“It appears to be accidental,” he said of the blaze’s origin. “There’s nothing to indicate any foul play.”

He said investigators are waiting for the Crime Lab in Little Rock to identify the body using DNA and dental records.