Body found in 'unusual' position as firefighters extinguish burning car in North Philly

Firefighters discovered an unidentifiable body after extinguishing a burning car parked in North Philadelphia on Feb. 20, 2020. The body was found resting in an unusual position on the passenger seat, police say.
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice

Firefighters made a startling discovery after extinguishing a car fire in North Philadelphia early Thursday morning. 

A body burned beyond recognition was resting in a strange position on the passenger seat. 

"It's actually laying on its back with its head down by the floor board and its feet facing the rear of the vehicle. So that is unusual," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told the Associated Press

The body was so badly burned investigators cannot tell the age of the individual, nor if the person was male or female. 

The Medical Examiner's Office is investigating the cause of death, according to KYW. It's unclear whether the victim suffered blunt force trauma prior to the car fire, police said.

Firefighters initially responded to the 5000 block of North Sydenham Street after residents in the Logan neighborhood heard an explosion just before 2 a.m., NBC10 reports. They found a burning Mercedes station wagon parked on West Fishers Lane. They put out the fire within 10 minutes. 

That's when they found the body, authorities said. 

The car was registered to a Philadelphia address, but it wasn't local to the neighborhood, police said. 

Police will obtain footage from surveillance cameras in the area to aid in the investigation, according to a report by 6ABC

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. 


Follow Virginia & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @vastreva | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Virginia's RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.