PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. -- Stephen Obbish was found dead in the back seat of a Punxsutawney police cruiser.

That much is known.

What happened between 9:46 a.m. Aug. 15, when officers arrested the 48-year-old man for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness at a Goodwill store, and 2:56 p.m., when paramedics found him unresponsive in the unmarked Chevrolet Impala, is less clear.

The death in police custody has spawned speculation among residents of this small community and an investigation that, so far, has yielded far more questions than answers.

Community leaders say they don't know enough about the incident to comment. And authorities at the helm of the case have refused to talk about it. A police officer has been placed on paid leave while the investigation continues, but officials aren't revealing his name.

In private, Mr. Obbish's death has become the stuff of dinner table conversation.

"If I discussed every rumor I'd heard, I'd be on the phone all day long," said Lt. Bernie Petrovsky of the state police Punxsutawney barracks, which has taken over investigation from borough police. "At this point, we're not saying an awful lot."

Lt. Petrovsky, who commands the criminal investigations section, said he hopes toxicology results and an autopsy report will offer clues about what caused Mr. Obbish's death in the police cruiser more than five hours after officers first put him there.

He wouldn't say whether Mr. Obbish was inside the cruiser the entire time. Nor would he say whether its windows were found rolled up or down on an afternoon when temperatures climbed into the mid-80s, according to weather reports.

Pending autopsy results could also help determine whether Mr. Obbish, who lived in a personal care home, suffered from a diabetic condition instead of being drunk, as borough police first suspected.

One symptom of diabetes is ketosis, a condition that makes breath smell like acetone or paint thinner.

It is unknown when autopsy results might be available. Jefferson County Coroner Bernard Snyder could provide no timeline for their completion. He offered few glimpses into Mr. Obbish's death, saying he was on vacation that day and a deputy handled the case.

A store manager at Goodwill called borough police directly after she emerged from a back room Saturday morning and discovered Mr. Obbish lying on the floor in one of the aisles.

The manager, who would not give her name, said she could smell alcohol when she approached Mr. Obbish and asked him if he was OK. She recognized him as a longtime customer, and described him as "not coherent" and "lethargic" when she called police. When they arrived, she said, he was not able to walk out of the store.

What happened after that, she did not know. Mr. Obbish was transported to the borough police station, which is where medical personnel found him dead in the car five hours later, Lt. Petrovsky said.

State troopers impounded the white, unmarked Chevrolet Impala as evidence.

Borough Police Chief Thomas M. Fedigan Jr. said he is conducting an "administrative investigation," but he would not elaborate.

Jefferson County District Attorney Jeffrey Burkett wouldn't comment; neither would Mayor James Wehrle. Other borough leaders did not want to talk about the death or couldn't be reached.

"I'm puzzled about it," said Mr. Obbish's older brother, William Obbish, also of Punxsutawney. "It's hard when you really don't know exactly what is for sure."

The elder Mr. Obbish said his brother was healthy, to his knowledge. Stephen Obbish was living in Lane Avenue Assisted Living, a personal care home for people with a range of disabilities, though his brother was not sure why. He had been there for a few years.

Employees at the care home would not talk about Mr. Obbish, citing privacy rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

William Obbish said two police officers visited his home Saturday afternoon and told him "they were going to take [Stephen Obbish] to jail, he was in a car, and that's when he passed away."

Authorities have told him little else about his brother's death, saying they were awaiting lab results. He said his brother has already been cremated.

"It was very shocking," Mr. Obbish said. "I wanted to know what happened to him."