One dead in mysterious car fire
ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH/HIGHLAND LAKES NEWSPAPERS
The Burnet County Sheriff's Office recovered scant evidence with charred remains of a human being at the site of a car fire on County Road 202, southeast of Lake Victor in Precinct 2.
BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH
HIGHLAND LAKES NEWSPAPERS
A charred license plate and melted side mirrors are all that remain on County Road 202 of a vehicle that caught fire Monday night with an unidentified man inside.
Burnet County officials said the fire was reported on Monday evening, June 20, in the 3800 block of County Road 202 in Precinct 2.
“It was a car on fire and there was a body in it,” said Lisa Whitehead, Burnet County Justice of the Peace Pct. 2.
Whitehead, who appeared on scene with law enforcement and emergency service personnel, pronounced the person dead at 8:24 p.m.
“We don't believe there was foul play involved,” said Burnet County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Joe Canady, “on the specific details, we're not there yet.”
Reporters on scene hours later witnessed evidence that the vehicle may have been a Kia Soul. The fire destroyed any identifying information on the license plate.
The vehicle was stopped on the side of the southbound lanes of the roadway and it was reportedly facing south. Authorities do not know at this time what caused the fire, Whitehead said, or who the deceased person is.
“We don't have a name,” she said, adding that the body was burned so badly that authorities weren't sure at first if it was male or female.
Canady said it has since been determined to be a male.
The deceased was sent to the Travis County Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy. Whitehead said Texas Ranger Marquis Cantu would be attending the autopsy on Tuesday.
State Fire Marshal Jeanine Mather is also investigating the case with Burnet County Sheriff's Office.
“They will figure out who it is and how they got to be there,” Whitehead said. “At this point, the possibilities run the gamut.”
