Three bodies found in burned car
Police call deaths suspicious, say fire may have concealed evidence
Police are awaiting the results of autopsies to determine the cause of deaths of three people whose bodies were found inside a burnedout car at a northwest construction site Monday.
Firefighters made the gruesome discovery after extinguishing the vehicle that was found fully engulfed in flames near a townhouse complex under construction around 7 a.m. Monday in the 100 block of Sage Bluff Circle N.W.
Three bodies were removed from the car: one man, one woman and a third body, also believed to be a woman. Based on their size, police say, all three are believed to be adults. The chief medical examiner’s office will be conducting autopsies Tuesday, but it could be days before the bodies are identified and a manner of death determined.
Acting Insp. Paul Wozney of the Calgary Police Services’ major crimes section said investigators are treating the deaths as suspicious.
“The fact that there are three deceased persons in the vehicle, it’s parked in a construction site that’s off the beaten track (and) fire was used to perhaps conceal what happened inside that vehicle, lead us to believe that the circumstances are suspicious in nature,” Wozney said.
As a steady rain fell Monday morning, police erected tarps around the burned-out vehicle while forensic investigators combed the muddy construction site for evidence.
Investigators appeared to concentrate on an area next to the large, unfinished complex that was scorched by the fire, on a street still new enough that it can’t be located on Google Maps.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, police said the vehicle, a black 2011 Chevrolet Cruz with Alberta plates, had not been reported stolen.
The burned-out car was to be removed from the site and taken to the CPS forensic crime-scene unit for further examination.
Wozney said the registered owner of the vehicle is known to police and has a criminal history in Calgary.
“We’re trying to track that person down as I speak,” Wozney said.
“Whether they were in the vehicle or not, I can’t comment.”
Nearby resident Allison Campbell said her husband was eating breakfast Monday morning when he heard “loud popping noises” from outside.
“He went and looked outside and he saw the fire,” said Campbell, whose home is directly across from the construction site.
“By then, he could see the fire going up the wall of the building, right beside the condo.”
While upstairs, her husband heard two more popping sounds. Fire crews arrived moments later and began dousing the flames.
Campbell said she later locked her doors after learning that fire crews had found bodies inside the vehicle. “It’s pretty scary,” she said. Calgary Fire Department spokesperson Carol Henke said the first firefighters on the scene were able to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to the nearby building, though it took them time to realize exactly what they had on their hands.
“When a vehicle’s on fire, you can’t see inside at all, you can’t see anything,” Henke said. “They actually didn’t realize until they did a search of the vehicle once the fire was out that there were people inside.
“No one, when they’re fighting a fire, wants to come across that anytime, but we understand that it’s part of our job and it does happen.”
Another nearby resident said he was surprised to hear what happened, especially since his girlfriend had left their home that morning without noticing anything amiss.
“It’s such a quiet neighbourhood and everything is new, you wouldn’t really think that there’d be suspicious activity going on,” said the man, who identified himself as Ian.