Burned body found near Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Firefighters putting out a grass fire near the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia have found the body of a man.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said 60-year-old Marion Spencer was dead when his partially burned body was found around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday.

Watts says it appears Spencer died a few hours before. The coroner has ordered an autopsy to determine how Spencer died, and said the death is being handled as a homicide.

Columbia Police also are investigating the death.