FIRE MARSHALS AND TROOPERS INVESTIGATE DEATH AND FIRE IN CARROLL COUNTY

(Hampstead, MD) – Deputy state fire marshals and state troopers are investigating the death of a man whose body was found inside a burning truck on a Carroll County church parking lot early this morning.

The victim is described as a white male, possibly 35-45 years of age. The name of the individual is not being released at this time. Although a possible identity is known, a positive identification of the body has not been made.

At about 4:15 a.m. today, a 9-1-1 call was received from a near-by resident who reported a fire on the parking lot of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, in the 1600-block of Cape Horn Road, Hampstead, Md. Units from the Hampstead Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the blaze that had engulfed a 2006 diesel Ford utility pickup truck with a crew cab. Fire personnel found the victim deceased in the back seat of the truck and notified law enforcement authorities.

Deputies and a K-9 team from the Office of the State Fire Marshal and troopers from the Westminster Barracks responded to the scene. Investigators from the Westminster Barracks Criminal Investigation Section, the State Police Homicide Unit, and crime scene technicians from the State Police Forensic Sciences Division also responded to assist with the investigation.

The victim’s cause of death is not known at this time. His body was taken to the Office of the State Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. There were no immediately obvious signs of trauma on the body, other than what are consistent with burn injuries.

The truck was destroyed in the fire. A cause of the fire has not been determined at this time and remains under investigation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

The truck was owned by Sunrise Safety Services of Glen Burnie, Md. The company is one of the contractors working on the Hampstead Bypass.

Anyone with information about this incident, or who may have been driving on Cape Horn Road between the hours of 9:30 p.m. yesterday and 4:15 a.m. today, is urged to contact Maryland State Police at the Westminster Barracks. Investigators can be reached at 410-386-3000.