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From January 11,

The garage where Ashley Turton was found dead in a car fire in a Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington DC on Jan. 10, 2011. (Photo: Win McNamee / Getty

.........."Based on evidence at the scene, D.C. Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer said investigators' "leading theory" is that Turton was trying to maneuver her BMW SUV out of her garage at 5 a.m. and around a car in the driveway when she apparently came into contact with some kind of flammable chemicals or other explosive materials. A workbench was located near the garage opening, he said.

“We’re waiting for lab results,” said Piringer. “It’s possible it was related to something mechanical, some kind of malfunction or it may be that she hit something in the garage, or something like a tricycle got stuck underneath the car.” He said Turton’s air bag did not deploy, indicating that if she did hit something, it was done at low speed. Piringer said that it was only once the fire was out and heavy smoke dissipated that responders could see that there was a body inside the car. "............

They ruled out “foul play?”

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=2263531

Several sources familiar with the ongoing investigation tell WTOP fire and police investigators believe the radiator in Turton’s 2008 BMW X5 was punctured when it rolled into a workbench. The halogen headlights, which emit a bluish light and illuminate the road better than conventional headlights, stayed on after the radiator was punctured.

The autopsy into Jan. 10 death of Turton, a lobbyist for Progressive Energy and wife of a senior aide to President Barack Obama, is still pending, but investigators believe she was stricken and unconscious before the fire ignited.

(snip)

From the start, investigators have not suspected foul play.

Piringer said that it was only once the fire was out and heavy smoke dissipated that responders could see that there was a body inside the car. “............

Ok...this is the line that has bugged me PROFOUNDLY since this happened, was reported, and discussed here, last month.

Putting on my CSI cap...from the local of the garage to the back of the house, it is plausible that a neighbor (with a different vantage point) saw the flames first. That neighbor would have NO WAY (in theory) of knowing if the vehicle was occupied or not...but, once the Fire Department showed up...would ANYONE IN THAT ATTACHED HOUSE realize...is that Ashley’s car? Where is Ashley? And wouldn’t they IMMEDIATELY tell some first responder at the scene...my wife was supposed to be driving that car!!! So why the big, surprise, when the smoke literally cleared, that ‘there is a body inside the car.’

Was she supposed to leave by taxi (for the alleged flight? has the flight info been verified?). Was the WH aide husband supposed to take that car that day?

That is such an honest, stunned sounding statement by a Fire Department professional (who has probably seen many awful things) but was ‘surprised’ to find someone in the car.