BODY FOUND IN BURNING VEHICLE IN JAMUL IDENTIFIED

Update September 23, 2012 -- The Sheriff has identified the victim as Dillon A. Davis, 20, of 4S Ranch. 

By Miriam Raftery

September 20, 2012 (Jamul)—Firefighters summoned to extinguish a vehicle fully engulfed in flames in the 16200 block of Skyline Truck Trail in Jamul at 4 a.m. found the charred remains of a human body. 

"We are treating this as a homicide. The position of the body was suspicious," Captain Duncan Fraser with the Sheriff's homicide detail told ECM. "The body was not behind the wheel." He added that there was no evidence of a vehicle accident and that "it appears to be a deliberately set fire."

Officials want to hear from any witnesses or individuals who have information, he added.

Sheriff’s homicide investigators, Lemon Grove Sheriff’s station detectives and the Bomb/Arson squad were called to the scene. The identify of the victim is unknown, nor has the gender been determined pending identification by the Medical Examiner’s office, Captain Fraser said.

The vehicle was a four-door compact.  The fire was called into 911 by an individual on the way to work. "Cal Fire was out there very quickly," Capt. Fraser noted. Authorities are currently working to identify the owner of the vehicle.

Asked if the crime could be related to drug trafficking or domestic violence, he repklied, "We're not ruling out anything at this point."

Following an extensive investigative at the scene, the remains of the vehicle have been taken to the Sheriff's Crime Lab.

If you have information, please call the Homicide Detail at  (858) 974-2321/after hours at (858) 565-5200 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS(8477).