Women’s death called mystery

Jenn Lawson

Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

The Clark County coroner's office is investigating the "very unusual" death of a woman found burned in a house near Durango Drive and Flamingo Road Thursday night, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

"It's very unusual, in that there's very little fire damage to the house and no observable indication of what caused the fire," he said.

Leinbach declined to speculate as to whether it might be a case of spontaneous combustion, homicide or suicide, but said: "We can't rule anything out. It's one of those things we'd like to have answers to."

Firefighters responded to an automatic fire alarm about 10 p.m. at the home in the 3800 block of Windansea Court, but didn't see any fire, Leinbach said.

Firefighters got into the house through an unlocked back door, and smelled smoke coming from upstairs.

They found the body of a 46-year-old woman on the floor in a room adjoining a bedroom. No one else was home at the time, Leinbach said.

The identity of the woman was not released this morning.

She had suffered burns, but investigators saw no other trauma to her body. The fire appeared to have been limited to her body and the area around her, Leinbach said. Damages to the home were estimated at $1,500.