Burning body found on dirt road in Alpine

ALPINE (CNS) – A burning body was found Sunday on a rural dirt road near Alpine.

A Sweetwater Authority employee made the grisly discovery off the 17500 block of Sequan Truck Trail near Japatul Road. He called the sheriff's department shortly before 5 a.m., according to sheriff's homicide Lt. Glenn Giannantonio.

Deputies arrived to find the body still smoldering in the roadway, Giannantonio said. The corpse was in the mountainous Cleveland National Forest about three miles south of Alpine and about 23 miles east of downtown San Diego.

The sheriff's department's Homicide Detail, personnel from the Bomb-Arson Unit and the crime lab were then summoned to investigate, and remained there doing forensics work at mid-morning, sheriff's officials said.

Giannantonio asked anyone with information about the incident to call the Homicide Detail (858) 974-2321, or after hours at (858) 565-5200, or to contact Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.