The body of a man was discovered Monday in a Southeast Portland warehouse three days after a fire gutted the building, fire officials said.

Investigators received information Monday morning that led them to believe a man was in the R.J. Templeton auto parts warehouse at 2710 SE Long St. at the time of Friday night’s fire and never came out, said Portland Fire & Rescue spokesman Rich Chatman.

Crews then searched the scene and found the remains of a man inside the warehouse about 11 a.m., fire officials said. They have not released a cause of death or identified the man.

While Chatman wouldn’t elaborate on the information that led to the search, he did note that witnesses had reported a man used to seek shelter outside the east side of the building. That helped investigators narrow their search, he said.

Investigators will use dental records to identify the man who died. Chatman said that process could take several weeks.

Investigators hope to have a cause of the fire by this week, he said.

Employees who worked in the building said they were shocked and upset by the news that someone had died in the fire.

Rick Rader, a subtenant of the warehouse who owns Jobbers Service Co., said everyone who worked in the building had been accounted for.

“It never occurred to us that someone may be inside,” he said.

Rader said he was working remotely from home on a computer located inside the warehouse when the computer stopped working Friday night. He said he decided to go to the warehouse to reboot the computer, but the building was engulfed by the time he arrived.

He and other employees who showed up to the scene that night were worried about the cat that lived in the warehouse, a calico named Dusty. So far the cat has not been accounted for.

Now, they’re devastated to learn that someone lost his life, Rader said.

“I was crying for a kitty," he said, "and then I hear there’s a person in there.”

—Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR