Death investigation opens after man, 52, found in burned apartment: police

Police are investigating the death of a 52-year-old man who was found in an apartment building that caught fire last month in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Marek Piotr Goczok was found at 10:07 p.m. Feb. 23 on the second floor of the building in the 5200 block of South Linder Avenue after a fire broke out in the basement, according to Chicago police, the Chicago Fire Department and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Goczok was pronounced dead at the scene less than 20 minutes later, authorities said. He lived in the same block as the building.

The fire did not spread to the second floor, police said, adding that it has not been decided whether foul play is suspected.

An autopsy conducted the following day did not immediately rule on the cause or manner of his death pending further studies, the medical examiner’s office said.