HEYWORTH - A Heyworth man likely was dead for several hours by the time police officers entered his home early Monday after a standoff, the coroner said Tuesday.

Cletus M. Ridgeway, 34, of 209 S. Buchanan St., was found dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head about 1:45 a.m., about nine hours after a report of a domestic dispute Sunday afternoon at the home began the incident, authorities said.

He was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m. Monday, when the coroner made contact with the body, but he appeared to have been dead for several hours, McLean County Coroner Beth C. Kimmerling said. The exact time of death remains undetermined.

While Ridgeway apparently died of the gunshot wound, forensic toxicology tests results remain pending, she said.

The man was found without obvious signs of life when a state police tactical response team entered the home after failing to make contact with him, Kimmerling said.

Ridgeway was the father of two school-age boys and stepfather to a teenage girl, the coroner said.

Heyworth Police Chief Chris Lane said the children were not there during the domestic dispute between Ridgeway and his fiancée, whom Lane declined to name.

"That the kids were not there is a blessing," he said.

Lane said police were alerted to the domestic dispute by officials at BroMenn Regional Medical Center, Normal, where the fiancée was being treated for injuries in connection with the dispute.

After that alert, McLean County sheriff's police and Heyworth police went to the home about 5 p.m. Sunday. They approached the situation cautiously after being told Ridgeway had a weapon.

The state police tactical unit entered the area in front of Ridgeway's home before an attempt was made to contact him, but Ridgeway did not respond.

The incident left the residents of the village shaken, Lane said, but they were calming down by Tuesday.

"It was traumatic. In a small town everybody knows everybody else," Lane said.

Roger Miller contributed to this report.