WEST FRANKFORT — Franklin County Coroner Marty Leffler says preliminary autopsy results released Friday on the body of a Herrin man found dead Thursday afternoon in a wooded area on South Logan Street in West Frankfort showed that he died from natural causes.

Leffler says X-rays were also done on 57-year-old Michael J. Childers. The X-rays did not show any traumatic type injuries and were done to rule out any foul play. Toxicology results are pending and will not be expected available for four to six weeks. Leffler says No further information is available at this time.

Childers was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner’s office just after 3:30 Thursday afternoon after the coroner’s office met with investigators from the West Frankfort Police Department and a crime scene investigators from the Illinois State Police.

Police say Childers was known to be homeless, and they knew he had been staying in a wooded area where he was found.

Childers’ body was taken by West Frankfort Fire Ambulance to the Franklin Hospital Morgue, where the X-rays were done to rule out any found play. The autopsy was done Friday morning at the Williamson County Morgue.