Body found in burned housed identified

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Selma Times-Journal

Dallas County Coroner Alan Dailey has confirmed that the body found Saturday morning in an abandoned house is 52-year-old James Lee &8220;Doc&8221; McMillian.

The cause of death is still not known due to decomposition. More information is expected to be released today. The case is still considered on going and there are still remaining tests to be run, Daily said.

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Funeral services are scheduled for 1 p.m. today at Miller Funeral Home Chapel with burial to follow in Pineview Cemetery.

Tonya Carter, McMillian&8217;s daughter, filed a missing person&8217;s report June 5 after no one had seen her father for 13 days.

On June 8, police arrived at 417 Ann St. at 3 a.m. to inspect the origin of a smell coming from the formerly burned, abandoned home. Inside they found the body of a male.

Family members later identified the body as McMillian.

The Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Montgomery could not confirm the identification until an autopsy had been performed.

Confirmation came Tuesday that it was the Selma man that had been missing for two weeks. No foul play is suspected, said Lt. David Evans of the Selma Police Department.

McMillian had a history of seizures, but according to his daughter, he had not had any episodes lately.

Residents of the GWC Homes community described him as a warm and kind man who will be missed.