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Man dies in Macon house fire on Fourth Ave. Here’s what we know.

Investigators may have to rely on dental records to identify the body of a man found dead in the gutted remains of a vacant house early Sunday in Macon.

An autopsy was set for Tuesday, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones told The Telegraph.

The dead man, who Jones said was “burned beyond recognition,” was believed to have been squatting in the vacant house, which caught fire sometime before 7 a.m. Sunday.

The dilapidated-and-now-burned 1,100-square-foot house at 1474 Fourth Ave., which was built in 1900, had been worth about $20,000, according to property records.

The house sits just east of Interstate 75, north of Georgia Avenue.

Jones, the coroner, said an ID card found in the house belonged to another man who may have been squatting there in the past.

“I talked with him yesterday afternoon,” Jones said Monday, adding that the man he spoke with apparently didn’t know the deceased man.

“We don’t know who this guy is,” Jones said.

This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 11:45 AM.

Joe Kovac Jr.
The Telegraph
Joe Kovac Jr. writes about local news and features for The Telegraph, with an eye for human-interest stories. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. He joined the Telegraph in 1991 after graduating from the University of Georgia. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and Atlanta Magazine. He has been a Livingston Award finalist and won numerous Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press awards.
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