Two bodies were found in a burning car in Palos Park, IL Saturday night. After an autopsy this morning, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has released a statement saying that the bodies had both been strangled.
The deaths of the two people have both been ruled homicides.
Firefighters first responded to the scene at around 11:45 p.m. Saturday night and reportedly found a PT Cruiser on fire at Cap Sauers Holdings Nature Preserve in Palos Park.
After they were able to extinguish the flames, they found two burnt bodies in the trunk of the car. Both of the bodies as well as the scorched remains of the vehicle were brought to the medical examiner’s office for investigation.
Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman Ben Briet said in a statement that the victims were both female, according to the Chicago Tribune. One of the women was in her 50s and the other was in her 70s.
Their names have not yet been made available by authorities.
Briet also said that police used both helicopters and canine units to search the surrounding wooded area but no other bodies or evidence was found, reports the Chicago Sun Times.
The sheriff’s office has opened a homicide investigation for the case as of this morning.