Burned couple identified

Two seriously burned bodies found in the burning hulk of a car in Landers last week have been positively identified as an elderly couple from Huntington Beach, San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.

The bodies of Earl Leroy Clancy, who was 78, and Irene Clancy, who was 80, were found last Monday in the town near Joshua Tree, burnt beyond recognition. Police called it a likely murder-suicide committed by the woman.

County fire officials showed up at 2:23 p.m. at Cady Road and Hoover Road, 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.

“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 possibility that the male was murdered prior to the vehicle fire.”

Investigators think the couple went to Landers because they used to own property nearby.

“The victims are an elderly couple from the Huntington Beach area who left their home Monday morning and didn’t return,” Wiltshire said.

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

Irene Clancy did leave a note for relatives, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller. While the department would not release it, Miller said it mostly gave instructions on what to be done with the couple’s belongings.