Site of death now condemned

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) The space where a woman was found dead on Wednesday has been condemned.

On Thursday, the Allen County coroner identified that woman as Dana M. Gersper, 33, of Fort Wayne.  The cause and manner of her death is still pending.  Another woman found at the scene on Wednesday was sent to the hospital in serious condition.

According to Allen County Assistant Building Commissioner Roger Clark, the man renting the unit where both women were found, was using the space for storage before he planned on converting into a convenience store. Clark said the space had no building permit and nothing had been done to convert it.

County crews found a room with a bed inside of it, as well as portable kerosene heaters, portable propane heaters, and a portable generator in the bathroom.

Clark said the space had no running water, electricity, heat or ventilation.  The strange odor that was reported is believed to have been kerosene that had been spilled on a rug.

Clark said the doors to the building were locked, so it appears that no one broke in. A maintenance man is said to have had a key, but according to Clark, nobody claims to have let anyone stay in the building.

The building, located at 4331 South Anthony Boulevard, was condemned because people are not allowed to sleep in commercial spaces.

Investigators don't suspect any foul play.  What's still a mystery is how an anonymous caller said there was a dead body there around 1:10 p.m. Wednesday.  Police said they didn't find one on an initial search of the unit.

But at 2:08 p.m. another person called police saying the same thing.  That's when officers said they looked in the same unit, and found the two women.