A woman was found dead in a Richford home that was badly damaged in a fire early Wednesday morning, according to Vermont State Police.
The Richford Fire Department responded to the fire, which fully engulfed the home on Union Street, at around 4:15 a.m., according to a police press release.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze, state police said, but learned at the scene that the building’s occupant had not been accounted for. State fire investigators later searched the home and found a woman dead in the living room on the first floor, police said.
Police said the woman’s remains were sent to the chief medical examiner’s office in Burlington to confirm the woman’s identity and cause of death.
The fire does not appear to have been started intentionally, police said, though an investigation is ongoing.
“The extensive amount of damage limited the investigators in their ability to determine the origin and cause of the fire event,” a state police press release stated.