Alabama police are investigating the discovery of the body of a missing woman, found shot and burned. 

Jermiera Ivory Fowler, 31, who was previously reported missing, is the identified victim. The circumstances of her disappearance are clouded with mystery as she was said to have vanished while going to meet an individual regarding an online sale. Information from the Birmingham Police Department places the last known sighting of Fowler in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 31.

A disturbing report of a charred body in the 200 block of Sellers Road in Birmingham drew police officers to the scene. Fowler’s terribly burned body, marred by signs of physical assault, was discovered there. Upon the arrival of the medical emergency team, Fowler was declared dead, and a later assessment revealed that she had been shot.

The news of the incident sent shockwaves through the local community. Herbert Brown, a local resident who lives near the crime scene, reported his chilling experience of witnessing the fire and stumbling upon the sight of the burning body while checking out the situation. Firefighters joined the scene to douse the fire, while the police scoured the vicinity extensively till dawn.

Fowler’s death is now being treated as a homicide by the Birmingham Police Department, and investigations are underway to hunt down the perpetrators.

Though initial assumptions linked Fowler’s disappearance to a proposed meet-up for a Facebook Marketplace transaction, police later stated that they cannot substantiate whether the meeting occurred.