Body found at burned Pasadena home

PASADENA -- Authorities Tuesday found a body inside a detached garage that was badly scorched by fire earlier this week.
The identity of the dead person was not, nor was the person's age or gender, Pasadena police Lt. Rodney D. Wallace said.
It was also not clear what killed the person, he added. The body was found about 12 p.m. Tuesday at a home in the 00 block of S. San Marino Avenue, the lieutenant said.
"We are ruling it as a suspicious death at this time," the lieutenant said.
The body was partially burned, Wallace said, but it was unclear if the person died as a result of the fire or some other cause.
The cause of death was expected to be determined by coroner's investigators.
The body was discovered by a private investigator hired to look into the fire, which occurred about 2:20 a.m. Sunday in the 00 block of South San Marino Avenue and caused about $30,000 in damage, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.
Firefighters arrived at the scene Sunday to find a detached garage of the house, which had been converted into living space, and a covered patio well-involved with flames, Derderian said. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes.
Firefighters searched the burned area twice but found no body, she said. It was not known if the body was there at the time the firefighters made the searches.
The occupants of the main house on the property were accounted for following the blaze, however it was not clear if anyone from the converted garage was contacted by authorities.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

PHOTO courtesy of the Pasadena Fire Department