Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office opens investigation after body found inside burning vehicle in Toutle

Detectives with the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office are investigating after firefighters found a dead body inside a burning vehicle in Toutle on Wednesday.

Cowlitz 911 received a report of a fire in the 700 block of Sightly Road in Toutle at about 3:33 a.m. on July 17, according to a Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office news release.

“Firefighters with Cowlitz County Fire District 3 responded to the scene and found multiple vehicles on fire. After firefighters put out the fire, they discovered a deceased subject inside one of the vehicles,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office responded to conduct a death investigation with assistance from the Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office and Cowlitz County District 2 fire investigators.

“Detectives with the sheriff’s office were able to determine that the occupied vehicle, a truck, had been parked uphill from other vehicles,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release. “The truck appeared to have rolled downhill and then collided with other parked vehicles. A fire is believed to have started near the engine compartment, heavily damaging multiple vehicles.”

Detectives have “presumptively identified the deceased subject but are awaiting formal

identification protocol from the coroner’s office,” according to the news release.

The coroner’s office has conducted an autopsy and the autopsy report and toxicology results are pending.

“There are no further details available for release at this time,” the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.