Man found after Waterloo farmhouse fire identified

Investigators have identified the man whose body was discovered in a burned out farmhouse in Waterloo.

The body of 23-year-old Waterloo resident William C. Holmes Jr. was found Wednesday afternoon after firefighters doused the blaze.

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Monroe County Coroner Vicki Koerber said an official cause of death has not been released. The autopsy is still pending further investigation.

Earlier this year, Holmes was charged with knowingly burning after he allegedly set fires that destroyed playground equipment at a park in St. Louis County. The case was investigated by the Shrewsbury Police Department, according to court records.

Holmes’ body was retrieved shortly after a Waterloo police detective located it in the second story of the home on North Moore Street around 3:20 p.m. Wednesday. Police Chief Jim Trantham said the detective was surveying the scene from above in the bucket of one of the city’s bucket trucks when he made the discovery.

Firefighters initially were dispatched to the home at 1 a.m. Wednesday, controlled the fire and cleared the scene by 4 a.m. Trantham said a hot spot reignited the fire, forcing firefighters to return around 9 a.m. He said he believed the deluge from firefighters’ powerful hoses likely shifted wreckage in the house, making the body visible.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Man found after Waterloo farmhouse fire identified."