| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Woman found burned to death behind San Jose market
Thursday April 17, 2003SAN JOSE, Calif. San Jose police are seeking the public's help in identifying a woman whose charred remains were discovered near a trash bin behind a supermarket.
Firefighters found the woman after a person dropping off donations at a charity truck Tuesday night reported what looked like burning debris or a campfire behind a Safeway store, said San Jose police Sgt. Steve Dixon.
``As they started to put it out, they saw it was a body,'' Dixon said. ``The woman was on fire.''
Dixon said the woman was believed to be a transient between 40 and 60 years old. Homeless people often camp out near markets for warmth, protection, shopping carts to store belongings, and handouts from sympathetic shoppers, he said.
Authorities have not yet determined how the fire started. There was no indication that the woman tried to light a campfire to keep warm, but she may have accidentally ignited her bedding with a cigarette, Dixon said.
The body was wrapped in a sheet, blanket and plastic tarp, and firefighters found cigarettes nearby, Dixon said.
Police are treating the death as suspicious and are awaiting autopsy results from the county coroner.
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