Authorities awaiting DNA results in deadly car fire – Jacksonville Journal Courier

JERSEYVILLE Authorities suspect a person whose body was found Friday in a burned-out car drove into an embankment and was uable to get out as grass under the engine caught fire.

The Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigation Office and Illinois State Fire Marshals Office have not made a final determination on what caused the fire on Phils Creek Road, a dead-end road near Jerseyville.

The car belonged to Betty A. Short, 85, of Carrollton. She had been missing for several days.

DNA tests are being conducted to confirm it was Short who was found inside the car. Coroner Larry Alexander said identification could not be made visually, which is why the DNA test is necessary.

Short disappeared from her home last week and a family member found her car Friday morning in rural Jersey County.

We performed an autopsy on Sunday and we are waiting for some test results to get back before establishing a cause of death, Alexander said.

Sheriff John Wimmersberg said the car was the Chevrolet Impala that Short had been driving.

We have no reason to believe it isnt Betty Short, Wimmersberg said.

While a specific time of the fire has not been determined, Wimmersberg said he believes the fire likely took place during the night or early morning hours.

A fire like that would have had thick, black smoke billowing up, Wimmersberg said. There was nothing reported, so we believe it would have taken place at night, when you wouldnt have seen the smoke.

The area around the accident scene is fairly isolated, but Wimmersberg said there are a few residents who could have seen the smoke if the fire had been during the day. Because the area is low-lying, Wimmersberg said it would have been difficult to see the glow of a fire from any of the nearby houses.

Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen said he spoke with a Jerseyville resident who said Short had pulled into her driveway late Tuesday.

The location of the accident was south of the house where Short stopped and in the opposite direction of where Short told the resident she was going.

[She] told the woman that she was lost and trying to find her sister, who lives in Carrollton, McMillen said. The lady said she left and said she knew where she was going and was heading back to town.

McMillen said this is the first time Short had been missing.

Her family said she had been getting a little forgetful, but nothing extreme, McMillen said. It was likely old age. She drove into town the day before she went missing and picked up her medication.

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Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha.

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Authorities awaiting DNA results in deadly car fire - Jacksonville Journal Courier