State and local investigators have a lot of unanswered questions after a burned out car was found by a farmer in Davis County Saturday.
DCI special agent Michael Motsinger says the farmer called the Sheriff’s office around 10:30 after finding the car on a farm lane off a dirt road known as Vetch Avenue just south of Pulaski. Motsinger saysthe farmer didn’t know at the time that there was a body inside the badly burned car.
“The deputies got there and they looking in and were inspecting the vehicle, they found…human remains inside the vehicle. Those remains have been collected and they were transported to the office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny,” Motsinger says. He says they hope to know more from the autopsy this week, but that’s not certain.
“Obviously this isn’t your typical type of autopsy with the body being in the condition that it’s in,” Motsinger explains, “obviously being in a burning vehicle for some time — it will take some time to work through everything.” The fire has also made it difficult to get information from the vehicle.
“We’re are still trying to figure out the make and type of the vehicle due to the car being burnt and consumed in the fire,” he says. Motsinger says the State Fire Marshal has been called in to help determine how the fire started and if something was used to get the fire burning. Agent Motsinger says they don’t have any immediate clues on the identity of the person.
“The sheriff’s office has checked and we don’t have any reports that are coming up that are giving us any types of leads as to missing persons in the area,” Motsinger says.
He says investigators could use help from the public if anyone saw anything in the area.
“If they noticed a car in the area, if they noticed that it was parked there on Wednesday versus Saturday when it was first reported to law enforcement,” according to Motsinger. “We are just trying to get a timeline on when this vehicle would have showed up in the area — when it would have been parked there — and hopefully get some ideas from the public.”
If you have any information on the case you are asked to contact the Davis County Law Enforcement Center at (641) 664-2385.