Body found in car in Lordstown is identified

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

The Trumbull County coroner has identified the man found dead in a car in Lordstown on Wednesday as Michael C. Anderson, 23, of Seventh Street Southwest in Warren Township.

Police and firefighters were called to a burning car beside a cellphone tower on a gravel road on Industrial Trace Road near the GM Lordstown complex. They found the body inside while fighting the fire, but the body was burned so badly they could not identify the individual or even tell if it was male or female.

Lordstown Police Chief Brent Milhoan said Anderson was identified through dental records, but information on the cause of death has not yet been provided.

The car Anderson’s body was found in belonged to an as-yet-undeterined family member or friend.

Police believe the fire began about 1:05 p.m. and was discovered by a passerby about 1:20 p.m.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Milhoan said.

Anderson was not reported missing by his family, and police don’t know yet where Anderson had been prior to the fire.

Anderson was sentenced to four years in prison in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in January 2009 on convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary with a firearm.

He was released from prison last October.