UPDATE: Body found in burning car near Cal Poly Pomona

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POMONA — Authorities extinguished a car fire on a freeway onramp late Thursday and discovered a badly burned body inside.
The car fire was first reported to the California Highway Patrol at 10:01 p.m. on the South Campus Drive onramp to the eastbound 10 Freeway, according to CHP logs.
Because of the condition of the body, it was not immediately apparent if the dead person was male or female, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
“(The) Pomona Police Department responded to the scene due to suspicious circumstances determined by LA County Arson investigators,” Pomona police Sgt. Patrick O’Malley said. “The vehicle fire and the deceased person are currently being investigated by the Pomona Police Department’s detective bureau.”
The burning car, a newer-model Chevrolet Impala, was found along the left side of the onramp, with its rear end shifted off the road and resting on a grass hillside.
A CHP log entry at 10:08 p.m. indicated a witness who called 9-1-1, “saw a jacket in the car but doesn’t know if someone was inside,” as the car was becoming engulfed in flames.
hile it was severely scorched, it did not show damage indicating a major traffic accident.
The onramp remained shut down Friday morning as officials investigated the scene, removed the car and made sure the roadway was safe for traffic.
Anyone with information is asked to call Pomona police homicide detectives Shope or Uribe at 909-620-2095. Tips can also be left anonymously by calling 800-782-7463.

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