Body found in burning car in Lordstown

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

Village police and fire departments were called to a burning car Tuesday afternoon and found a body inside.

Brent Milhoan, village police chief, said the department got a call about 1:20 p.m. from a passerby who reported a vehicle on fire at 2640 Industrial Trace.

“It’s a driveway access to a cellphone tower,” he said. “There’s no building there.”

Both police and fire departments responded, and when firefighters extinguished the flames, they found a body inside.

Because of the extent of the burns, it’s unknown if it was a man or a woman. An autopsy is scheduled for today at the Trumbull County coroner’s office, the chief said.

Village officials contacted the state fire marshal’s office and the Trumbull County Homicide Task Force. The task force operates out of the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office.

“We’re treating it as a homicide until it’s ruled otherwise,” Milhoan said. “I’m not saying it is a homicide, and I’m not saying it’s not.”