Local

Two people dead after vehicle catches fire in St. Augustine

The St. Augustine Police Department now says the deaths of two people found in a burning car are "suspicious" after residents nearby told them they heard an explosion just before the burning vehicle was discovered.

Officers have spent the morning putting up crime scene tape and placing evidence markers all over a neighborhood not far from the Historic District after the bodies - found inside a burned-up black Dodge Journey - was found around 12:55 a.m. near the corner of Fred Waters Way and Spring Street. That's just west of where King Street meets the San Sebastian River.

"We had a car fire that was reported to the [St. Johns County] Sheriff's Office originally," said St. Augustine Police Department spokesman Mark Samson. "It was transferred to us a few minutes later. We responded."

That's when firefighters and police discovered it was much more than a routine vehicle fire, per Samson.

"Once the fire was out, we [got] close enough to the car [to] observe two people still in the car," Samson added.

Lots of things aren't known at this point, including who those people are, who owns the car, how the fire started or if the vehicle was involved in some sort of accident that caused it to catch fire.

Samson has confirmed that the medical examiner will be needed to positively identify the victims and that one of the things investigators will be looking at is if the fire was set intentionally. That's why extra officers and detectives were called in soon after the bodies were found.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to step [up] our initial investigation and make sure we don't leave any [evidence] behind," Samson noted.

Police have expanded the crime scene several times throughout the day in an effort to get as much evidence as possible.

Another update from SAPD on this case is expected at 3 p.m. today.

SAPD is asking anyone in the area who may have seen or heard something to call Crime Stoppers at 888-277-TIPS (8477).

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