Suspicious Death Investigated After Body Found In Burned Out Car

COACHELLA- Human remains found in a burned-out pickup truck near Coachella were being examined by coroner’s investigators today, while sheriff’s deputies tried to figure out what happened and when.

It was unclear who made the find along the 54000 block of Coachella Canal Road near Avenue 54 about 2 p.m. Tuesday.

“(The truck) clearly was not on fire whenever it was first discovered and hadn’t been for some time,” sheriff’s Detective Dean Spivacke said. “It looked like the fire burned itself out. The question is how long it was sitting there.”

The person inside was burned beyond recognition, he said.

“The identity of the body might take a couple of weeks,” Spivacke said. An autopsy is pending.

Police were working to trace the truck’s registration.