The cause of a fire that claimed the life of an Effingham County man Saturday night is under investigation.

At approximately 10:30 p.m. emergency crews responded to the residence on a report of a fully engulfed fire in the 700 block of Courthouse Road. Witnesses told deputies a male occupant lived inside and was unaccounted for.

Sheriff’s investigators maintained the crime scene throughout the night and located the body of an adult male in the back bedroom at daybreak Sunday morning.

The body will be sent to the GBI crime lab to determine the identity and cause of death.