Posted on 12/01/2003 8:52:47 AM PST by LurkedLongEnough
(Waterford-WTNH, Nov. 30, 2003 Updated 9:55 PM) _ State police are investigating a deadly car fire that happened near a shopping mall Sunday.
Authorities were called to an area behind the Target store at the Crystal Mall around 4:30 p.m. when someone reported what they thought was a brush fire.
"They found a vehicle on fire," Deputy Chief Max Thiel said. "There is an individual in the car."
Trooper One flew over the Crystal Mall in Waterford while State Police Major Crimes Squad set up a perimeter behind Target. Stunned shoppers came out of the stores and found crime scene tape and police cruisers.
"I was shopping over at Crossroads and I saw the helicopter with the spot lights and had to see what is going," said Dave Smith of Montville.
"They said there was a body in the car down there."
"Just concerned about who was in there because we are a small community and we hope it's no one we know," said Trish Capozza of Waterford.
Police say right now they have more questions than answers. Detectives in Waterford aren't taking any chances with the bizarre death and are treating it like a homicide investigation.
"The Waterford Police Department is there, the state's attorney is there, and Major Crimes is there to assist in the crime scene to determine exactly what happened," said Deputy Chief Max Thiel, Waterford Police.
The biggest problem is the terrain. The crime scene is way back in the woods down a steep ravine. State Police had to bring in their helicopter Trooper 1 and a K-9 unit to search for any possible suspects in the woods.
"It's going to take us most of the night to process the scene and determine what happened," Thiel said.
Trooper 1 will be in the air through out the night to light up the crime seen for detectives as well spot for potential suspects.
This is the second burned body in a car in that area in the past two weeks. The body of a Navy sonar technician from Iowa was found in a car at the submarine base in Groton November 21st.
A security guard has been found dead in a burning car in north Harris County.The incident initially was reported as a car fire at a hotel in the 13300 block of the North Sam Houston Parkway about 6:30 a.m.
The body of the man, believed to work at the hotel, was found after flames were extinguished.
An autopsy will establish the man's identity and cause of death, officials said.
Dec. 19, 2003
Body found in burning car that ignited house fire
By S.K. BARDWELL, Houston Chronicle
MILTON - A dead man found inside a flaming car early yesterday may have been murdered. Halton police say the man's death is suspicious but they have stopped short of calling it a homicide, preferring to wait for the results of an autopsy conducted at Hamilton General Hospital yesterday afternoon. Results are expected today.The body was discovered around 12:30 a.m. yesterday after two motorists saw flames and smoke coming from behind the Traffix trucking company on the west side of Highway 25 just north of Highway 401.
They found the burning car wedged behind a line of eight truck trailers abutting a small hill on the north side of the yard and called police.
Milton firefighters made the grisly discovery after putting out the fire.
Sergeant Jeff Corey, Halton police media relations officer, said late yesterday the man has not been positively identified.
But, investigators "do not believe it is a self-inflicted" death, he said.
The man's death is suspicious because police found pools of blood on the ground during a search closer to the front of the property. Corey said the blood "may be related to the man's death."
He would not say where the man's body was found inside the car, whether firefighters found it behind the wheel, in a passenger seat or in the trunk because he did not want to "compromise the investigation."
"We are trying to positively identify this person from identification found at the scene and the registration of the car.
"The victim's body was badly burned in the fire - which caused extensive damage to the car. This presents certain challenges in the identification process." Police do not believe the man is connected to the business where he was found.
Members of the Halton major crimes and forensic identification units swarmed the car in pouring rain, gathering evidence yesterday morning before the car was loaded on a flatbed truck, tarped and taken to a secure location to dry out.
At daybreak, tactical officers and officers with dogs looked for evidence in the long grass surrounding the gravel yard and in a line of trees behind the parked trailers.
Chuck Snow, president of Traffix, said the dead man is not an employee of the company. "Everybody here is accounted for."
He said the company had 12 loaded trailers locked behind police yellow tape yesterday that could not be moved to customers in Toronto and the United States.
"This sad situation has impacted us, yes, but our customers have been more than understanding."
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