Fire victim considered a "recluse"

Not much is known about the man tentatively identified by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department as the victim of a Nov. 24 trailer fire southeast of Denison.

Sheriff Tim Morse said Timothy W. Michael, 53, had worked for Waste Management and also as a diesel mechanic, and he had some family in the Topeka area, although he was “not close” to them.

“He was kind of a recluse,” Morse said of Michael. “There’s not much we know about him personally.”

Michael was tentatively identified as the victim of a trailer fire that occurred Monday, Nov. 24, on property southeast of Denison. Morse said Michael’s identity will likely be confirmed through DNA testing, although it may be “weeks or months” before that testing is complete.

“There’s no reason to believe it’s not him at this point,” Morse added.

An Internet search showed that Michael had lived in Meriden, Oskaloosa and Newton before moving to rural Denison. A report on the property he purchased southeast of Denison was printed as part of the “Land Transfers” reports that appeared in The Holton Recorder in the Oct. 22 edition, although further research showed that he purchased the property in January 2007.

Denison City Clerk Yvonne Hamer said city officials had “no interactions” with Michael as he lived in a rural area, and she had “never met the man.”

The cause of the Nov. 24 fire has yet to be determined, it was reported.