Burned bodies believed to be Huntington Beach couple

Two burned bodies found in a scorched car in Landers on Monday may be an elderly couple from Huntington Beach, San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.

County fire officials showed up at 2:23 p.m. at Cady and Hoover roads, near the border of Joshua Tree, responding to reports of a fire, sheriff’s spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire said. Once the flaming car was extinguished, bodies of a man and a woman in their 70s were found inside, and officials called in homicide and arson investigators.

Investigators are looking into the incident as a murder-suicide committed by the woman, Wiltshire said.

“It appears the female drove with the victim to the Landers area, parked behind the cabin on Cady road and set the vehicle on fire with both inside,” she said. “We’re also looking at the possiblity that the male was murdered prior to the vehicle fire.”

The bodies were burned beyond easy recognition, Wiltshire said, but “investigators believe that the victims are an elderly couple from the Huntington Beach area who left their home Monday morning and didn’t return.”

The San Bernardino County Coroner will be making the final identification.

The coroner performed autopsies today, but was unable to determine the cause of death, Wiltshire said. The toxicology testing still in progress can take up to six weeks.