A body was discovered Thursday in a burned out car at a park in Woodbridge, Virginia, police say. News4’s Jackie Bensen spoke to families who live near the park.
Three men and a teenager have been arrested and charged in the murder of someone found dead inside a burning car in Woodbridge, Virginia, police say.
Firefighters in Prince William County were called to Veterans Park the morning of Thursday, March 15 for a report of a vehicle fire inside the park. When they arrived, they found a car fully engulfed in flames.
Once they extinguished the fire, they found a body inside the car and called police.
The next day, Prince William County police arrested 21-year-old Manuel Enrique Robles Lopez, of Manassas, and charged him with being an accessory to murder. On March 17, police charged a 17-year-old with murder and he is being held at a juvenile detention facility, police said. The teen is from Woodbridge, police said.
Members of the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force arrested two other men, 23-year-old Erick Alexander Contreras Navarro, of Manassas, and 19-year-old Denis Ludwin Espinal Alvares, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, in Wilson, North Carolina on March 20.
Detectives have preliminarily identified the victim, but a medical examiner is doing more DNA analysis to confirm the identity.
Authorities are still investigating the exact cause of the victim's death and the fire.
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On March 14, another body was found in a burning car more than 40 miles away.
Firefighters found the woman's body while responding to a call about a brush fire in a wooded area of Germantown, Maryland.
The victim in the case has not been identified.
Police have not said whether they believe the two cases are connected.
