What happened
The fire was reported shortly before 5:15 p.m. on Friday, September 11, in a wooded area off Ramsay Concession 12 in Mississippi Mills. Lanark County OPP and the Mississippi Mills Fire Department responded to the blaze. Officers and firefighters found a deceased person inside the vehicle after they arrived on scene. Police say one person was found deceased inside the vehicle.
What investigators are saying
No details on the identity of the person found in the vehicle, or the circumstances surrounding the fire, have been disclosed.
The Ottawa connection
With no cause established yet, and no identity released, the case is drawing attention from Ottawa-area residents who travel through the area or have ties to Lanark County.
Part of a tense stretch for the region
In late August, ottown's earlier report covered the discovery of a third body near Smiths Falls, another eastern Ontario community about an hour from Ottawa, in a separate and unrelated investigation. There is no indication the two cases are connected, but both have left nearby communities waiting for answers from police.
What's next
Police have not said when they expect to release the identity of the person found in the Mississippi Mills vehicle, or whether the fire is being treated as suspicious. The Lanark County Detachment Crime Unit's involvement, alongside the coroner's office and forensic pathology service, suggests a thorough review of both the death and the fire is underway.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Lanark County OPP at 1-888-310-1122, or to submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or through ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
Sources: Ottawa Citizen (via Yahoo News Canada), The Lanarkist
