Greendale Police still working to identify person found inside burning car, death believed to be accidental
Updated: 12:12 p.m. October 9, 2018
GREENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office believes the death of a person found inside a vehicle that caught fire early Sunday morning was accidental.
Greendale Police say the official cause of death is still pending toxicology results and they are still trying to identify the victim.
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Updated: 4:30 p.m. October 8, 2018
GREENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Greendale police are investigating after a body was found in a vehicle that had caught fire early Sunday morning.
The car was parked in a parking lot across from several Greendale businesses on Parking Street. The car fire happened around 4 a.m.
When the fire was extinguished, Greendale Police found a body inside.
Police have not released the name of the victim, but an autopsy was scheduled for Monday.
An employee of Ricardo’s Pizza, one of the businesses that is right across from the parking lot, confirmed the victim was one of their employees.
They were closed Sunday. A note on the door said, “Due to emergency circumstances beyond our control, Ricardo’s is regretfully closed for business this evening.”
They reopened at 4 p.m. on Monday.
A business owner a few doors down said he knew the victim and said he was a bartender at Ricardo’s.
“I knew he had a nice car and he worked part-time over there,” James Bately, Batley’s Barber Shop & Salon said. “He was always nice to us, that was the main thing. He was a good guy, going to miss him.”
Greendale Police are not saying whether the fire or the death is suspicious, or accidental, but they are asking anyone with information to call the police department.
“You have to be concerned about something like that,” Jeff Anderson, Director of Operations for THe Popcorn Shoppe said. “Things like this happen in any community, but unfortunately it happened in Greendale. We just have to see what the police say and take it from there. If we have to take any security steps we’ll certainly do that.”
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Posted: 11:58 a.m. October 7, 2018
GREENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The Greendale Police are investigating the discovery of a dead body found in a burning car this morning. The Greendale Police are asking for the public’s assistance with the investigation.
According to a news release, around 4 AM Sunday, the Greendale Fire Department responded to a reported vehicle fire in the area of Parking Street and Northway. When the fire was extinguished, first responders discovered a deceased body inside the vehicle. No other details have been released.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office has been notified and is attempting to identify the body.
Anyone with knowledge about this incident is asked to call the Greendale Police at 414-423-2121.