A farmer was taken to a hospital Thursday after a suspected gas explosion leveled his home in rural Poweshiek County, authorities said. The explosion happened just before 10 a.m. north of Deep River at 2161 470th Ave., according to a news release from the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office. Wayne Cheney, 56, was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment of his injuries. Cheney was falsely linked to University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts' disappearance and murder. Investigators performed searches around Poweshiek County, including Cheney's farm, but they found nothing related to the case. Her body was later found in a cornfield, and former farmhand Cristhian Bahena Rivera has been charged with first-degree murder in her stabbing death.Poweshiek County Sheriff Tom Kriegel said Cheney was sent to an Iowa City hospital with burns and was conscious when first responders reached him. He is expected to survive.Kriegel said Cheney told firefighters he was trying to light a space heater when the home exploded. Investigators believe gas had filled the house.No one else was home at the time of the explosion, and the house is considered a total loss. Alliant Energy and East-Central Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative said a power outage in the area was not related to the explosion. The incident remains under investigation. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A farmer was taken to a hospital Thursday after a suspected gas explosion leveled his home in rural Poweshiek County, authorities said.

The explosion happened just before 10 a.m. north of Deep River at 2161 470th Ave., according to a news release from the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office. Wayne Cheney, 56, was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment of his injuries.


Cheney was falsely linked to University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts' disappearance and murder. Investigators performed searches around Poweshiek County, including Cheney's farm, but they found nothing related to the case.

Her body was later found in a cornfield, and former farmhand Cristhian Bahena Rivera has been charged with first-degree murder in her stabbing death.

Poweshiek County Sheriff Tom Kriegel said Cheney was sent to an Iowa City hospital with burns and was conscious when first responders reached him. He is expected to survive.

Kriegel said Cheney told firefighters he was trying to light a space heater when the home exploded. Investigators believe gas had filled the house.

No one else was home at the time of the explosion, and the house is considered a total loss.

Alliant Energy and East-Central Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative said a power outage in the area was not related to the explosion.

The incident remains under investigation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.