The suffocation death of an 8-year-old Illinois boy who was discovered in a refrigerator was ruled a homicide by a coroner on Thursday, ABC News reported.

Marquail Johnson's naked body was found in a refrigerator outside his Peoria home on Aug. 15, just hours after he was reported missing.

The Peoria County coroner's jury reportedly spent more than 30 minutes deciding what type of ruling to issue.

According to Detective Amanda Chalus, investigators are still uncertain of how Johnson ended up in the kitchen appliance or how it got outside. Authorities are also unaware of how long he was inside of it.

Though he was naked, his clothes were discovered inside the refrigerator as well.

The coroner officially declared the cause of death from suffocation. There was no evidence of physical or sexual trauma on the body.

During the initial investigation, officials found out that most of the children in the neighborhood did not play in the backyard of Johnson's aunt's house, where he was found. Additionally, the backyard is only accessible through the back door of the home.

The boy's mother, Shinta Johnson, originally told investigators she was working the day before, on Aug. 14, until 3:00 p.m. However, police found out after contacting her employer that she was not at work that day.

His mother also told authorities that her son was Autistic, though an autopsy could not confirm the diagnosis and no autism medication was found at the family's home.

One of Johnson's six-year-old cousins described a man who he believed saw him before his death, though he was eventually ruled out as a suspect.

No arrests have been made in the case and the investigation is ongoing.

Peoria is 130 miles southwest of Chicago.