Visalia authorities find body inside burning car

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Just after 3 a.m. Saturday, firefighters responded to a car fire on Sunnyview Avenue near Shirk Street in Visalia. Once they got the fire out, they found a body inside the vehicle and called police out to investigate.

The Visalia Police Violent Crimes unit and Visalia Fire Department arson investigators are looking into the death.

Police won't confirm if the body of a burned man found in an RV and boat storage unit is a homicide, but they are calling it suspicious. Charred pieces of a burned car are all that's left in this mysterious death. The parking stall where the car was found sits in a storage unit at an industrial business complex.

"We have no idea if it's a homicide or not, but we take all the precaution to make sure that the evidentiary value of the scene in tact," said Sgt. Jim Carr, Visalia Police Department.

The car went up in flames right next door to a company that rents parking stalls to truck drivers. An employee of the business says the victim was a truck driver himself who'd just worked a full shift before getting in his car.

Police don't know why the vehicle started burning, but say it will complicate efforts to determine his cause of death.

"It's difficult, but not impossible. It just is a little bit more labor intensive," said Carr.

For now police won't say who the victim is.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Visalia Police Department at (559) 713-4294.