Tonight the family of 33 year-old Michael Reynolds is waiting for confirmation that his body is the one that was found inside his home, which had been destroyed by a fire. That confirmation, for them, is simply for closure because they know instinctively that he perished in the flames.
7News has been following the story since this morning, and Daniel Ortiz has the details of the various angles.
Daniel Ortiz reporting
When we arrived, investigators from the Police Department and the National Fire Service were well-underway with their inspection of the rubble at #139 Sister Mary Benedict Street, just off Antelope Street extension. The house was almost completely destroyed by a fire which started early this morning.
It is believed that the owner, 33 year-old Michael Reynolds, who works for the Ministry of Human Development, was inside, and he was burned to death.
Voice of: Friend - First Responder
"When I came out on the verandah I see the house in flames. We were the third set of people to be out here. There was no ambulance here yet because we had already called and they said they were on their way."
ASP Calbert Flowers - Deputy OC, Police Precinct #2
"Sometime around 2:26am based on information police visited the Antelope Street Extension area where they observed at 139 Antelope Street Extension a wooden house completely engulfed with fire. Shortly after the fire services arrived at the location and they quickly controlled the fire. However, the wooden structure was completely destroyed."
"After going through the remains of the house the police and the fire service personnel discovered the apparent lifeless body of a male person."
"At this moment we believe that this person is the occupant - the person occupied that house at the time, the person was living alone one Michael Reynolds."
Benisford Matura - Operations Officer, Fire Department
"We found his charred body in the corridor in front of his bathroom and bedroom door - just in the corridor."
ASP Calbert Flowers - Deputy OC, Police Precinct #2
"The body now lies at the KHMH morgue where it awaits a post mortem examination. We are depending on this post mortem examination to assist us and guide us in our investigation so far."
"At this point the investigation is open. We are the very stage of this investigation. We are not ruling out anything, we are exploring all angles. We have no leads at this moment, so we are treating it as priority - to try to get to the bottom of this investigation."
What investigators are clear on is that Reynolds was at home because the government vehicle which he was in charge of. It was parked in his yard, and it received some damages from the flames from the house.
Benisford Matura - Operations Officer, Fire Department
"Mr. Reynolds usually park the government vehicle here in our compound and goes home in his private vehicle. From time to time because he works in rural areas when he comes in late he would keep the vehicle at his house. I guess he came in late last night."
Suspicions are high as to what caused the fire. One theory is that he may have been killed, and the culprit burned the house down to destroy evidence.
Benisford Matura - Operations Officer, Fire Department
"For a fire like this we have two theory but we cannot say which one is which. It could be that something went wrong and they burnt the house to cover a crime or it's just a mishap and he couldn't make it out of the building while it was burning."
Which leads us to the next unproven theory: he may have gone out partying, and came back and fell asleep. He supposedly then passed out and the fire started from natural causes, which ended up claiming his life. So far, police say that this is the direction that the investigation seems to be going.
ASP Calbert Flowers - Deputy OC, Police Precinct #2
"There is no evidence to suggest foul play. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Reynolds was murdered. We are waiting for the results of the autopsy, hopefully that will point us in the right direction."
Benisford Matura - Operations Officer, Fire Department
"What exactly start the fire is still under investigation. The area where the fire started is in the hallway of the living room. You have to enter the house, the hallway and then you go straight to the bedroom."
Voice of: Friend - First Responder
"I know Michael to be a very cool person; he is always a happy person. He goes to work every day. He is always with his kids, he has two kids on weekends after work and basically that's it. He goes to work every day and goes back home - goes to the pipe to wash his car."
According the Fire Department, his house, along with others on his street was a fire hazard because it was sharing electricity with his neighbours due to the lack of electricity lines from Belize Electricity Limited.
