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West Valley police say the body found in a canal yesterday belongs to 37-year-old Nichi Edwards, but preliminary autopsy reports raise more questions than answers about how she died.
Police say they don't know how Nichi Edwards died and they are not sure how her death relates to the fire that happened at the house near 1600 West and Heron Way.
West Valley City police say the initial examination portion of the autopsy is complete. They found Nichi Edwards suffered from some burns on her arms, but nothing that would indicate any foul play. They're still awaiting toxicology results, which could take several weeks.
The fire started Tuesday. Matt Edwards told police he left his home for about 10 minutes to run an errand. His wife, Nichi Edwards, was inside. He returned to find his home on fire, and Nichi Edwards was nowhere to be found.
Then yesterday, police discovered a body in a canal behind the Edwards home.
Police say this is not a criminal investigation; although firefighters believe the fire was intentionally set.
They've questioned Matt Edwards who has been cooperative throughout this investigation. Mark Ethington, Matt Edwards' attorney, said, "He [Matt Edwards] did not have anything to do with the setting of this fire. He would not do anything or cause any harm to his wife. He loved his wife very, very much. He's very distraught about this whole situation happening."
Police are still trying to determine who started the fire and why. They also don't know how the body ended up in the canal.
E-mail: wjohnson@ksl.com
