Death at Wyoming apt fire 'suspicious'

WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) - A small fire in a third-floor unit at Waterchase Apartments has developed into a suspicious death investigation, police officials told 24 Hour News 8.

Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters entered the apartment at 3080 Waterchase Way. The fire was contained to a single unit and quickly extinguished. But while searching the unit, firefighters discovered a body.

The fire started in the bedroom, firefighters said, but the body was found in a different room. Firefighters did not try to rescue the victim. They said it was obvious the person had already died by the time firefighters found him or her.

Wyoming police Capt. Brad Schutter said the person's death is "suspicious," but would not elaborate.

"At this point, we have very little to go by," Schutter said. "As a police department, we're treating it as a death investigation."

Around noon, police roped off an area surrounding the apartment and continued to investigate into Tuesday evening.

"As they were going through -- going through the searching that we do after the fire was extinguished, at that time then they found the victim," Wyoming Fire Chief Bob Austin said.

Officers have an idea of who the victim is, they said, but they're not releasing the person's name.

The medical examiner's office will perform an autopsy on the body to confirm its identity and an exact cause of death.

Police said they plan to release the victim's identity Wednesday.