MAGNOLIA, Mississippi (AP) — Authorities in Pike County have identified a body was found Oct. 1 in a burned SUV.
Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Steve Rushing tells the Enterprise-Journal that the state Crime Lab used DNA to identify the victim was 44-year-old Janice Blackwell Brown of McComb, the vehicle’s owner.
Rushing says the case is being investigated as a homicide. The cause of death has not been released.
Rushing says the sheriff’s office was notified Wednesday that Brown was the victim.
Deputies received a call at 3:46 a.m. on Oct. 1 after a passer-by spotted the burned SUV. Upon arrival, deputies discovered the severely charred remains inside the vehicle.
The vehicle fire had burned itself out by the time the discovery was reported.
