The State Medical Examiner?s office has released the identity of the man whose body was found inside of a burned-out car in western Iowa last month. According to John Kraemer, Director of Forensics at the State M-E?s office, the victim of the December 15th car fire in southern Audubon county was Jeff Van Ommen, of Urbandale.
Five days after his body was found in the vehicle, just north of the Wiota exit off Interstate 80, Van Ommen?s co-workers at the hair salon where he worked held a memorial for the 39-year old, even though his name had not officially been released. Kraemer said the cause of Van Ommen?s death was smoke and soot inhalation, as well as burns to his body.
But the manner of death has not yet been determined. The autopsy was conducted December 17th, and the results reported this late this (Wednesday) morning. The identification of the man?s body was conducted using D-N-A analysis.