(BURLINGTON) — Police investigating the deaths of a man and a woman whose bodies were found in a burning home in a small north-central Indiana town say the woman was fatally shot but it’s unclear how the man died.
An autopsy performed Tuesday found that Anna Downham, 35, died from a gunshot wound she sustained before the house was set on fire, Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby said. The Bringhurst woman’s death was ruled a homicide.
Downham’s body was pulled Monday morning from a burning home in the town of Burlington by people who stopped after spotting the fire. Firefighters called to the scene found the man’s body inside the home after dousing the flames.
That man is not suspected of killing Downham, and an autopsy was unable to determine his cause of death or manner of death, Leazenby said. Pathologists and the county coroner were using DNA and dental records to try to identify the man, he said.
The two deaths shocked residents in Burlington, a rural community located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Lafayette, the Journal & Courier reported.
“We’re a town of 600 people, so when you hear sirens, you wonder what’s going on,” said Town Clerk Karen Dinger.
Burlington resident Jenna Hileman said the community is “a great town” and she was shocked to learn that Downham’s death was ruled a homicide.
“I would not suspect anything malicious here,” she said.
