TAHOE CITY (Appeal News Service) - Authorities are attempting to identify the body found inside a car that caught fire Thursday night in Kings Beach. The incident is not being investigated as a homicide, according to the Placer County Sheriff's office.
"We have an idea of who the person inside might be, based on the car registration," Sgt. Bill Langton said of the body found in the driver's seat.
An autopsy is currently under way to determine the cause of death, and dental records of the registered car owner are being compared with the body, Langton said. It is currently considered a coroner's investigation.
Deputies who responded to a car fire at 9:45 p.m. Thursday behind the Rite Aid in Kings Beach came upon a fully engulfed car, according to Langton. The North Tahoe Fire District arrived within a couple of minutes and extinguished the blaze.
The body was found and deputies ran the license plate on the Oldsmobile. Langton would not say where the car was registered or whether the owner was a local resident.
The cause of the fire is still undetermined. The vehicle's exterior was not badly burned, but the inside of the vehicle was, Langton said.