Man found in closet of burned-out home
The second floor of this house at 3910 Park Ave., South Franklin Township, was heavily damaged by fire Dec. 3. State police said Tuesday a 53-year-old man was found under a pile of clothes in the corner of a closet of his South Franklin Township home more than three weeks after a fire at the house.
State police said Tuesday a 53-year-old man was found under a pile of clothes in the corner of a closet of his South Franklin Township home more than three weeks after a fire at the house.
A fire restoration crew – which had been working at the house, 3910 Park Ave., about two weeks – found Kerns’ body Monday.
State police said an autopsy was performed on Kerns’ remains, and the cause of death is still pending. No foul play is suspected, they said.
In a release, police said the location of Donald Edward Kerns’ remains and the “amount of items on top of him made it difficult” to find the victim at his house, even though multiple searches of the house were conducted starting the night of the Dec. 3 fire.
Kerns’ whereabouts had been unknown since family members reported him missing Dec. 6.
The fire marshal at the Washington County state police barracks and members of South Franklin Volunteer Fire Department didn’t return calls Tuesday.