ORANGE, Calif. — Homicide detectives were investigating Tuesday after three bodies were found inside a burning SUV in a Southern California neighborhood, authorities said.
The charred bodies of three male victims were discovered Monday afternoon after firefighters doused the blaze on the driveway and sidewalk outside a home in the city of Orange, police Lt. Fred Lopez said.
The victims did not live at the house where the SUV was parked, and neighbors did not recognize the black GMC Yukon, Lopez told the Orange County Register.
There were no reports of a traffic accident before the fire, officials said. Authorities were trying to determine if the victims were dead before the fire started or if they died in the flames.
Investigators searched several nearby yards for possible suspects, but no arrests have been made.
Officials did not immediately release the name of the vehicle’s registered owner, saying only that the SUV was last purchased by someone in the inland area of Southern California.
All the victims were male, but no ages or names were released. The coroner’s office planned to use dental records to confirm their identities. The earliest an autopsy likely will be performed is Thursday, because of the Veterans Day holiday Wednesday, officials said.
Uber driver Albert Riley of Placentia tried to extinguish the flames after he saw a woman waving her arms.
“She was trying to get someone’s attention and yelling that a car was on fire,” he told the Register.
Riley, who had been waiting in his car nearby, said he grabbed a neighbor’s hose and began spraying the vehicle before firefighters arrived.
Several streets near the fire were blocked off Monday, and police escorted residents to their homes during the investigation. Nearby Orange High School was briefly locked down as officers searched the area.
