Roanoke police are continuing to investigate how a well-known City Market merchant might have obtained child pornography at his store, even though the man is now dead.

Without commenting on the details of the case -- which came to light Monday after the death of Kent Agnew, the owner of Agnew Seed Store -- police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said police are following up on an investigation that led them to the store Friday.

According to a search warrant, detectives went to the business at 301 Market St. and told Agnew they had received information that his computer contained child pornography. Agnew allowed police to examine the computer's hard drive, which according to the warrant contained numerous images of children, many of "an explicit nature."

Johnson said Tuesday that the investigation continues in an effort to find out if anyone else was involved and where Agnew might have obtained the images.

The medical examiner's office has said Agnew died of causes it has yet to determine. Police would not identify him Tuesday as the person they found dead in the 300 block of Market Street early Monday morning, or comment on the cause of death.

Johnson said the death did not appear suspicious, and that police do not suspect foul play.

Even before the investigation took an unexpected turn with Agnew's death, authorities were hoping to keep it out of the public eye.

Late Friday afternoon, police went to Circuit Court Judge Clifford Weckstein and asked that the search warrant used to raid the store be sealed, according to Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell.

"I guess they thought it would generate a lot of publicity if it came to light," Caldwell said.

Weckstein declined to seal the warrant at the informal hearing, which Caldwell said was attended by an assistant commonwealth's attorney.

It's "relatively unusual" for police to ask that a search warrant be sealed, Caldwell said. He estimated it happens once or twice a year.

Asked why police wanted to have the search warrant sealed, Johnson declined to comment.

In the days following the death of the 61-year-old owner of the landmark downtown business, most neighboring business owners have been reluctant to talk specifics about him.

Yet some members of that tight-knit community said Agnew was a reserved man who kept to himself at his corner store.

A former member of the U.S. Marines Corps, Agnew had suffered from a variety of health problems in recent years, according to his obituary. He was married for 40 years and had three children, one deceased, the obituary said.

Pauline Wood, who has owned the nearby boutique Shades of Colors since 1983, said Agnew played with her two youngest sons when they were growing up, and that he was very respectful.

"It's so amazing how something like this would happen to such a wonderful person," Wood said.

Staff writer Jorge Valencia contributed to this report.