Body found inside burning car in Anaheim; police investigating

A body was discovered inside a burning car early Friday morning in Anaheim, and authorities are investigating the case as a homicide, police said.

Shortly after 3 a.m., Anaheim police started receiving phone calls reporting a series of explosions in the 100 block of South Westchester Drive, Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said. Callers also reported that a car was on fire.

Dunn said the first police officer on the scene witnessed one of the explosions and saw glass from the white compact vehicle shatter across the roadway. Anaheim firefighters extinguished the car fire and then saw that a body was inside, Dunn said. Homicide and arson investigators then arrived.

As of 5:30 a.m. Friday, Dunn said, the road remained closed to traffic and that workers were attempting to remove the body from the car, believed to be a Kia, using Fire Department tools.

Dunn said all the explosions were isolated to the car, and no damage was reported elsewhere. He also said the car appeared to have “collision damage,” but it was unclear whether the damage was related to the fire.

“We’re investigating this as a homicide, until we find evidence to the contrary,” Dunn said.

The gender and approximate age of the victim was unavailable.

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Twitter: @MattStevensLAT

Email: matt.stevens@latimes.com