Kansas man found dead after home explosion and fire. KBI calls death suspicious

State investigators have classified a man’s death as suspicious after his body was found in his Kansas home following an explosion and fire.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that agents are assisting the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the State Fire Marshal following a Jan. 24 death. Several 911 calls were placed at around 7:15 a.m. that day reporting an explosion and fire at a house in the 300 block of Fifth Street in Vermillion.

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, they found the homeowner dead inside. He was identified as 83-year-old Donald E. McLaughlin.

An autopsy and an investigation into the fire led the sheriff’s office to request KBI assistance on Friday after the death appeared to be suspicious.