A woman whose body was found in a burning vehicle along I-95 in Abingdon on Thursday night did not die as a result of an accident or vehicle malfunction, according to police and fire investigators.
The body of the victim, who has not been positively identified, has been taken to the Office of the State Medical Examiner for an autopsy, according to Senior Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire, who said the death is being jointly investigated by the Office of the State Fire Marshal and Maryland State Police.
"We have no reason to believe this was accidental," Alkire said Friday evening, explaining that the fire was "incendiary in nature" – deliberately started.
Passersby reported a 2007 BMW sport utility vehicle on fire along the right shoulder of the southbound lanes of I-95 near the Route 24 Bel Air/Abingdon interchange at 9:35 p.m. Thursday. Firefighters from the Abingdon and Joppa-Magnolia volunteer fire companies responded.
Police and firefighters initially thought there had been some kind of accident and, upon putting out the fire, the remains of a person, later determined to be a female, were found in the front seat, Alkire said.
"The vehicle was on the side of the road, placed in park, and the victim was in the driver's seat," he said. There was no indication anyone else had been in the vehicle.
Alkire brought his accelerant detection K-9 named Kachina to the scene, and the dog "alerted to an accelerant" inside the passenger compartment, where the fire originated, he said.
Additional investigation concluded the vehicle was not in an accident, nor had it experienced a mechanical failure that would have caused a fire.
Alkire said the vehicle is registered in Maryland. Although investigators believe they know the victim's identity, they are awaiting confirmation from the medical examiner before releasing any more information.
Pending a determination of the cause of death from the autopsy, Alkire said he could not release any additional details about the cause of the fire.