Victim Inside Burned Morgan Park Home Had Been Shot

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The man whose body was found in a Morgan Park home on Monday after an explosion and fire died from a gunshot wound to the head.

But as CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, the man's identity is still not known, giving the homeowner's family some hope he's still alive.

"We still don't know." said Joe Louis Lawrence, who was at his the burned out home of his brother, Tim, on Tuesday.

The family is looking for answers and praying it wasn't Tim's body that was found inside.

"Being optimistic, we are just hanging onto a thread of faith," Joe Lawrence said.

But with every passing moment, the family's hope is fading.

"Everyone's been trying to contact him, text him," Joe Lawrence said. "He's never responded back, and that's not him."

Sources tell CBS 2 the fire was suspicious and an accelerant was detected.

Tim's car is also missing. Police say it is a black four-door 2004 Buick LeSabre with Illinois license plate V617710. His family hopes finding it might lead to whoever is responsible.

"Somebody knows what was what, just come forward nobody deserves to die like this here," Joe Lawrence said.

People living in the neighborhood say detectives have been asking about a woman Tim Lawrence knew and referring to her as a "person of interest."

A Chicago Police spokesman says the department can neither confirm nor deny that information.