FENTON, Mo. — Fire crews found a body on the scene of a house fire that was called in the early morning of May 2.
Captain John Barton of the High Ridge Fire Protection District said fire crews responded to a call for a fire at about 3:15 a.m. on West Lakewood Drive just outside of Fenton in Jefferson County.
Barton said when crews arrived at the scene, they found a house fully engulfed in flames. Additional fire crews were requested when High Ridge saw the severity of the fire, he said. Barton said that the house fire was under control as of 5:45 a.m.
Originally, firefighters were searching for a person considered unaccounted for in the fire. Later in the day, Grant Bissell, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, said a body was found inside the home after the fire.
The following week, the body was identified as 75-year-old Carol Soppeland. An official cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Crime Scene Investigators are investigating the fire, Bissell said. The High Ridge Fire Protection District said the Missouri State Fire Marshall's Office is also investigating the fire.
