Two people found dead in car blaze ID'd as spouses

MAGNOLIA — Two adults found dead Monday in a car fire in south Arkansas have been identified as a married couple from Magnolia.

Janice Daniels, 46, and Jermillian Daniels, 41, were confirmed by the Columbia County coroner's office as the deceased and as the subjects of a homicide investigation by the Columbia County sheriff's office.

The couple lived on Columbia County Road 32, according to county tax records, roughly 3 miles from the intersection with Columbia County Road 11 East, where the vehicle was found.

The Banner-News confirmed Wednesday from sources with direct knowledge of the matter that passers-by discovered the red, two-door Chevy Camaro convertible in flames Monday just after noon.

They found two people in the front seats of the vehicle and called for emergency assistance. Initial attempts to open the car doors were unsuccessful. Later, authorities used a mechanical device to open them. Columbia County dispatchers indicated in its initial call to authorities about 12:20 p.m. that the two people in the car were dead.

The vehicle was on a gravel shoulder facing south on the east-to-west Columbia County Road 11 near a cropping of trees. There were no visible skid marks on the pavement, and sheriff's office official Kelly Blair said Monday that investigators did not believe the incident was an accident. Department officials did not elaborate.

The bodies were sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for DNA testing and to determine their causes of death.

No arrests had been made Wednesday.