Body found in burning vehicle in Baiting Hollow ID'd, Riverhead Town police say
Riverhead police have identified a person found dead inside a burning vehicle in Baiting Hollow and said the death was non-criminal.
"The preliminary investigation indicates that the incident was non-criminal in nature at this time," police said in a statement, adding that the woman was "tentatively" identified as Kimberly Pawlowski, 49, the resident at that address on Sebastian Drive.
"The investigation is ongoing and anyone with any information is asked to contact the Riverhead Police Department at 631-727-4500," police said in the statement.
Emergency responders had answered a call for a late-night fire Tuesday in Baiting Hollow found the body inside a burning vehicle in a residential driveway, Riverhead Town police said.
The fire was reported at 10:34 p.m., police said.
Police said that when officers and members of the Riverhead Fire Department responded, they found a vehicle "fully engulfed" in the driveway, with fire also spread to an exterior wall of the home and a nearby dumpster. It was when the vehicle fire was extinguished that police said responders discovered the body in the vehicle.
Police said the incident is being investigated by detectives, as well as the Suffolk County police Arson Unit. The body was taken to the Suffolk Medical Examiner's Office.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
