Authorities have deemed the death of a Loudon County man whose body was found amid the rubble of a house fire last week "suspicious."
Firefighters discovered the remains of 60-year-old Richard Todd Dirksen after extinguishing the March 9 fire at his home at 17735 Vonore Road in Loudon.
On Tuesday, Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider and 9th Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson both confirmed that shortly after the house fire authorities in neighboring McMinn County located the victim's truck, which also had been burned.
"It's definitely a suspicious death investigation," Johnson said.
Johnson said another Loudon man, Timothy Patterson, 37, admitted to "some involvement" with taking or burning the truck.
Patterson was taken into custody March 10 on outstanding warrants for violation of community corrections and failure to appear in court. He remained in custody Tuesday at the Loudon County Jail.
Johnson said Patterson has not been charged in connection with the house fire or with Dirksen's death.
The Loudon County Sheriff's Office, along with the Tennessee Bomb and Arson Division, continue to investigate the cause of the house fire.
Autopsy results in Dirksen's death are pending.