Body Found In Burned Car At Bridgeport Park Entrance, Police Investigating

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Bridgeport police are investigating after a body was found Thursday morning inside a burned car at the entrance to Elton Rogers Woodland Park on Frenchtown Road.

Police received numerous 911 calls just before 11 a.m. reporting a car on fire at the park entrance in the city's North End, near the Trumbull border.

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The Bridgeport Fire Department extinguished the fire, and firefighters found a body burned beyond recognition in the driver's seat, according to police.

The Bridgeport Police Patrol Division responded before contacting the department's Detective Bureau. Detectives from the Homicide Unit and Major Crimes Unit later arrived, along with officials from the Office of the State's Attorney in Bridgeport.

The car was registered to an address in Trumbull. People at that address were notified and interviewed by detectives, police said.

Detectives have tentatively identified the person found in the car. They will work with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to confirm the person's identity following an autopsy in Farmington.

The cause and manner of death have not been determined.

The Bridgeport Fire Department and Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosion Unit are investigating the origin of the fire. Trumbull police also assisted with the investigation.

The portion of Frenchtown Road near the park entrance was closed for most of Thursday as investigators worked at the scene.

Bridgeport police said there is no danger to the public related to the case.

"We made significant progress in this investigation on Thursday," Detective Jeffrey Holtz, a Bridgeport police spokesman and member of the Homicide Unit, said in a statement. "We are well on the way to determining what happened. We will release additional details when we can. We ask the public to keep the family in their thoughts."

Anyone with information is asked to call Bridgeport Police Homicide Unit Detective Thomas Harper at 203-581-5239.