Smell leads to body found four days after Ohio garage fire

  • The body of an unidentified African-American woman has been found in the rubble of a Columbus garage
  • The garage caught fire on October 2 but the body was not found for four days
  • Neighbors called firefighters to report a foul smell coming from the wreckage
  • Homicide investigators are using forensics and DNA testing to identify her 

A woman has been found dead in the rubble of an Ohio garage fire four days after the blaze.

Firefighters returned to the residential property in Columbus after people reported a foul smell coming from the charred remnants of a detached garage that caught fire October 2. 

A family dog was killed and found near the entrance to the garage, but no one else was thought to have been hurt.

The body of an unidentified woman was discovered in the rubble of a garage four days after it was destroyed by a fire

Columbus fire officials say the homeowner had indicated that everyone who might have been in the garage had been accounted for, including a homeless man who had been staying there.

Homicide detectives plan to use forensics and DNA testing to try and identify the unnamed African-American woman.

‘Dead animals is what it smelled like to me,’ said neighbor Stephanie Hustead to ABC 6. ‘A shame nobody thought to look, it’s a shame.’

The family dog was found dead after the fire, but homeowners said that anyone who may have been in the garage had been accounted for

The family dog was found dead after the fire, but homeowners said that anyone who may have been in the garage had been accounted for

A body of a man who died of a suspected drug overdose had been found inside the garage earlier this year

A body of a man who died of a suspected drug overdose had been found inside the garage earlier this year

A relative of the homeowner told reporters that earlier this year the body of a man who died from a suspected drug overdose was found inside the garage. The owners put padlocks on the door shortly after.

‘Nobody was authorized to be there other than the persons in the home,’ said Columbus Fire Sgt. Steve Martin.

The home is located on Arlington Avenue in Linden, a neighborhood in northeast Columbus. 

Neighbors are hoping people with any information inform police. 

Pictured: The home before the October 2 fire

Pictured: The home before the October 2 fire

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