NORMAN - An overnight car fire in Northeast Norman is now a homicide investigation after firefighters discover a body in the car's trunk. Someone called 911 around 4:45 Sunday morning. The caller told dispatchers about a car on fire in the area of Indian Hills and Northeast 144th. Officer Jennifer Newell with the Norman Police Department says, "When the fire department arrived on the scene, the car was on fire. Once they actually extinguished the fire and they started searching the vehicle, they popped the trunk and actually found a body in the trunk."
Homicide investigators were called in, but the victim's identity and cause of death is still unknown. The body and the car were sent to the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office in the hopes of answering those questions. Newell says, "We don't even have the ability at this point to notify next of kin, so we're really waiting for them at this point."
There have been no reports recently of missing persons or a missing car, leaving investigators at the scene all day. They were sifting through the evidence, trying to figure out details like where the car came from. Because most of the scene was burned, police and fire investigators are working together closely to try to figure out what went on in this fairly rural part of norman. Newell says, "Most likely you are talking about 5 acres in between homes. There's not a lot of traffic in the area, but obviously somebody saw something because they were able to call 911 and let us know that the car was on fire."
If you have any information about this crime, please call the Norman Police Department at 321-1600.
Homicide investigators were called in, but the victim's identity and cause of death is still unknown. The body and the car were sent to the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office in the hopes of answering those questions. Newell says, "We don't even have the ability at this point to notify next of kin, so we're really waiting for them at this point."
There have been no reports recently of missing persons or a missing car, leaving investigators at the scene all day. They were sifting through the evidence, trying to figure out details like where the car came from. Because most of the scene was burned, police and fire investigators are working together closely to try to figure out what went on in this fairly rural part of norman. Newell says, "Most likely you are talking about 5 acres in between homes. There's not a lot of traffic in the area, but obviously somebody saw something because they were able to call 911 and let us know that the car was on fire."
If you have any information about this crime, please call the Norman Police Department at 321-1600.
