Car fire spurs homicide probe
MAGNOLIA, Ark. — A Monday car fire where two adults were found dead at a rural intersection in the Calhoun community is now under a homicide investigation by Columbia County authorities. Police had not released the names of the victims at presstime.
The incident was first reported to the Calhoun Fire Department and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office around 12:30 p.m. Monday. The report indicated that a car with two deceased persons was on fire at Columbia roads 11 and 32 near Weyerhaeuser in Calhoun.
The two-door car was facing south on the gravel shoulder on the opposite lane of traffic flow. The front end was nudged near a few small trees at the intersection, but the hood did not seem to show significant impact.
Authorities would not go into specifics, saying only that they believed the incident warranted a homicide inquiry.
“We recovered two bodies, and we are investigating it right now as a homicide,” said Kelly Blair, a criminal investigator with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Police were still notifying the next of kin Monday evening, so no names were released, Blair said.
Police do not believe the matter to be an accident.
Authorities were on the scene for around five hours Monday, with traffic blocked off for hundreds of yards on all rural county access roads to the intersection. The immediate scene was taped off, with police vehicles shielding much of the area. At one point, a Columbia County ambulance was called in carrying pneumatic and electric power tools, presumably to aid in the removal of the doors on the burned-out car. A Yellerhawk wrecker was also dispatched to haul off the car.
The scene was cleared at around 5:30 p.m. Monday.
There were no visible skid marks on the pavement and only a small, smoldering area remained after the car was cleared.
Arkansas State Police and Magnolia Police Department authorities aided in the crime scene.