The body of a local woman was found inside a burned out car in Orrington early Sunday morning, police said.
A passerby found the 2015 Toyota Corolla engulfed in flames in a small brook off the Swetts Pond Road about 3:30 a.m., Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said Monday.
“The body was burned beyond recognition,” McCausland said.
The state medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy Sunday on the remains and is doing a DNA analysis to try to identify her, he said.
The spot where the car burned is located near a school bus turnaround about three tenths of a mile from the intersection of Swetts Pond Road and Route 15. Debris from the car fire and charred rocks and trees could be seen in and near the stream on Monday.
The car was transported to the state police crime lab in Augusta for examination and investigators from the state fire marshal’s office and state police detectives are trying to determine how the fire started.