TEXARKANA, Ark. -- The victim of a mid-February house fire apparently died from smoke inhalation.
The body of Jonisha Moseley, 31, was discovered the night of Feb. 12 in the ruins of a vacant house at East Ninth Street and Garland Avenue. She was identified through DNA obtained during an autopsy at the state crime lab.
At the time of her death, Moseley was unhoused.
"She was not from here, but she and her sister were living in the area," said Fire Marshal Jim Wall of the Texarkana Arkansas Fire Department.
The postmortem also determined Moseley had a high level of carbon monoxide in her blood.
"We do know she was alive at the time of the fire," Wall said.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. However, Wall said several cans of Sterno were discovered near Moseley's body.
Sterno and similar jellied alcohols are often distributed by community outreach agencies to unhoused individuals as a source of heat for food and other needs. Wall said Moseley possibly fell asleep when the flames in the lit fuel cans got out of control.
"Being in an abandoned house, there's no smoke alarm, and there's all kinds of junk everywhere. The fire grew pretty quickly," he said.
As part of the investigation, Wall has asked that Moseley's clothing be tested for any trace of an accelerant. The request is prompted by rumors that Moseley was killed and her body was set on fire.
"As a fire investigator, we have to trace down any possible theories," Wall said, adding that it seems unlikely Moseley was the victim of foul play.