Body Identified after Germantown House Fire
This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. Thursday.
The man whose body was found in a Germantown home Wednesday was identified as Richard Michael Bauer, 69, of the 19200 block of Cross Ridge Drive, Montgomery County police said.
Police said they are still awaiting autopsy results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. Police said they do not suspect foul play in Bauer’s death.
Bauer’s body was found after a house fire in Germantown, prompting a death investigation, police said.
About noon Wednesday, Germantown police district officers, and fire and rescue personnel responded to a house fire in the 19200 block of Cross Ridge Drive, police said.
Once firefighters rendered the home safe, crews found a man dead in the home, police said.
Pete Piringer, spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, said a neighbor smelled smoke and knocked on the door. With no response, the neighbor called 911.
The home’s sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, which was likely caused by combustible material too close to the stove, Piringer said. He estimated damage to the home at between $5,000 to $10,000.
Bauer’s body was found in the kitchen.
“Nothing seemed suspicious,” Piringer said.
This investigation remains ongoing and Major Crimes Division detectives urge anyone who may have any information about the fire or the death to contact the Major Crimes Division at 240-773-5070.
Update – Death Investigation – @MCFRS FFs Investigating the report of smoke found a fire in neighbor’s kitchen which had been extinguished by a sprinkler system. At the same time a deceased person was located in the townhouse. Police are conducting a Death Investigation @mcpnews https://t.co/akFqpdHdsd
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) October 10, 2018
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