A person who died in a fire at a Cookeville residence on Tuesday is believed by Putnam County to be Mallory Pack, 22, formerly of Greeneville.

The Cookeville Herald-Citizen newspaper reported Thursday on its Web site that Putnam County Sheriff David Andrews had stated that the fire victim was believed to be Pack, a 2004 Greeneville High School graduate who, the newpaper said, was in Cookeville to attend Tennessee Tech.

"We can't say for certain that the fire victim is Miss Pack, but she is unaccounted for, and that's who we believe it is," Sheriff Andrews said.

Detective Bob Crabtree of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department was quoted in the story as stating that an autopsy is being performed in Nashville.

Mary Jo Denton, a staff writer with the Herald-Citizen who has been covering the story about the fire, said this morning that Sheriff Andrews told her today that dental records are still being checked to make a definite identification of the fire victim.

But, Denton said, the sheriff continues to believe that the victim was Mallory Pack.

She is a daughter of Larry and Debbie Pack, formerly of Greeneville, who now live in the Atlanta area.

A sister, Merideth Pack, is a college student in St Augustine, Fla.

The newspaper quoted Sheriff Andrews on Thursday as stating that Mr. and Mrs. Pack are in Cookeville waiting for further definite word from authorities.

Mallory Pack's paternal grandparents are Harold and Christine Pack, of Greeneville, and her maternal grandparents are Gib and Betty Stewart, formerly of Greeneville, now of the Atlanta area.

The Herald-Citizen's news article on Thursday, as well as another article published by the newspaper on Wednesday, said that Pack held a job at the IHOP restaurant in Cookeville and was rooming with another young woman in the double-wide mobile home, which was located in a remote area of western Putnam County.

As of Thursday, the cause of the fire and the exact cause of death were not known.

Account Of The Fire

The article Thursday stated:

"A passerby on the Nashville Highway in the Buffalo Valley area called 911 on Tuesday afternoon to report seeing a fire. When firefighters arrived, the double-wide trailer residence on Low Gap Road was fully engulfed in flames.

"The fire was so large and intense, firefighters were unable to make entry. After they put the fire out and began moving debris, they found a body.

"A blue Pontiac Sunfire car belonging to Mallory Pack was parked in the driveway. Investigators immediately began trying to locate her and her roommate, as well as other family members and acquaintances. All were accounted for except Pack.

"And though no one yet knows the cause of the fire, Sheriff Andrews said this morning that 'it is beginning to appear that it might have been some electrical cause.'

"He said the other young woman who lived there had left the residence around 1 p.m. Tuesday and said nothing was wrong at that time.

" 'Mallory had worked the late shift at the IHOP restaurant and got off about 3 a.m. Tuesday, but stayed up with some friends after that and didn't get to bed right away,' the sheriff said. 'She talked to her mother by phone around 9:30 a.m., and nothing was wrong at that time.'

"No one knows yet, but investigators generally figure that Pack got to bed sometime after 1 p.m. and fell asleep and probably died of smoke inhalation after the fire started."