Body found in burning car in Freeport
The Freeport fire department responded to a report of a car fire on Lakeview Ave in Freeport Friday, where they found a body in the trunk, witnesses and police said. (June 10, 2011) Credit: Jim Staubitser
The body of an unidentified person was found in the trunk of a burning car Friday morning on a Freeport street, witnesses and police said.
Nassau police homicide squad commander John Azzata said officials have not determined the gender, age, race or cause of death of the victim found inside the trunk of a Nissan Altima or Maxima on Lakeview Avenue between Willow Avenue and Jesse Street.
The scene is near the Freeport water tower.
A passerby reported the car was on fire about 10:20 a.m., Azzata said at the scene.
About five employees of the Freeport Water Department, some of whom are firefighters, noticed the blaze down the street from the facility and doused the fire with handheld extinguishers, said one of the men, Jimmy Olin.
Freeport firefighters arrived and pried open the trunk of the car, where the fire was concentrated. That's when they discovered the remains, police said.
"They observed a body in the trunk of the car," Azzata said as Freeport police and Nassau detectives conducted the investigation behind police tape blocking off the scene.
Olin, a firefighter, said the men were shocked to see the charred body in the trunk.
"I think it's sad," Olin said. "What could somebody have done to end up like this?"
One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said she noticed a man near the car just before it was set alight.
She said she reported the fire to authorities after she saw the flames, but was upset when she found out later that she may have seen a murderer.
"I've never seen anybody set a car on fire," she said. "Then I heard there was a body inside and my heart dropped."
The gruesome find was just feet from a telephone pole bearing pictures of two young men who were shot dead on the same street about two years ago. Christopher Clark, 22, and Brendan Lawrence, 20, were killed at the corner of Lakeview Avenue and Jesse Street in April 2009.
The witness said those unsolved killings and the latest case of a possible homicide were disturbing.
"What is going on in this neighborhood?" she said.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
