Person found dead inside burnt home, Sheriff’s ruling it a homicide

HAWTHORNE, Fla. (WCJB) - Sheriff’s deputies in Putnam County are searching for a silver 2008 Saturn Sky after a man was found dead inside of a burned-down house.

The house is located at 115 Cottonwood Drive in Hawthorne, and deputies say the car belongs to 69-year-old Louis Stackhouse.

Stackhouse also owns the home that burned.

Investigators are ruling the fire a homicide after finding an adult, who is not yet identified, inside.

“It’s unbelievable,” said one Hawthorne resident, Tyler Martin, “honestly, to think that someone would go to the extent of burning someone’s house down or even to the extent of harming another human being.”

Detectives are still unclear whether Stackhouse is the person found dead inside the home, or if he is on the run in the car police have described.

Martin said it does not change his feelings about safety in Hawthorne.

“Most of the people around here,” said Martin, “we all love each other...We try to protect each other and it’s just we got those few bad apples that really hurt other people.”

Sheriff’s deputies are still investigating the burned house and working on identifying the person inside.

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