Burned animal found behind dentist’s building

Police have no suspects in the case of a burned animal found Wednesday behind a business in the 300 block of South Lincoln Street.

The owner of the business, Dr. Michel King, called officers to the area at 10:25 a.m. after finding the remains of what looked like a burned cat in the parking lot behind his business, Drake said, reading from a police report.

Officer Brian Werner found a scorched area in the parking lot  3 feet in diameter, Drake said. In the middle were the burned remains of a small brown animal. Werner could not immediately identify the animal, but it looked like a cat or squirrel. He also could not tell if the animal had been alive at the time of the fire, Drake said.

When questioned, no one else in the vicinity reported seeing any suspicious activity. When the owner had left his business the night before, he also hadn’t seen anything suspicious, Drake said.

Because of the scorched area around it, a power line was likely not the cause of the animal’s death, Drake said.