(JOLIET TOWNSHIP) The Joliet Township house where 16-month-old Semaj Crosby was found dead last month burned down Saturday morning, the day after the toddler’s funeral.
Authorities were called for reports of a fire about 6 a.m. at the home in the 300 block of Louis Road, according to a statement from the Will County sheriff’s office. Crews from the East Joliet and New Lenox fire departments arrived to find the house “fully engulfed in flames.”
Due to the extent of the blaze, the East Joliet Fire Department “advised they would allow the house to burn out while maintaining control,” the sheriff’s office said.
The cause was not known, but the sheriff’s office said fire officials would not be calling in an arson investigator.
Semaj was found dead under a couch in the house on April 26, about 30 hours after she had been reported missing. A funeral for her was held Friday in Joliet.
The Will County Office of Land Use had condemned the house as unfit for habitation after she was found dead.
Anyone who saw anything suspicious leading up to the fire is asked to call the sheriff’s office Investigation Division at (815) 727-8574 or leave tips online at willcosheriff.org.