Questions surround man's body found in burning car in north Harris County

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Harris County homicide detectives are investigating a body found in a burning car in northeast Harris County.

A passerby reported a car on fire at about 4am on John Ralston Road near Tidwell. Fire crews found the car off the side of the road, near the woods, engulfed in flames, with a man's body inside.

Sgt. Robert Spurgeon of the Harris County Sheriff's Office said, "The fire department came out and extinguished the fire. After the fire was extinguished, fire marshals came out to do their investigation to determine whether or not it was arson, and discovered that there was the body of a male was inside the vehicle. Right now we do not have a cause of death. We don't have the identity of the male who was in the vehicle. That's going to be pending the autopsy results."

The victim's age and race have not yet been determined.

Authorities are investigating another homicide just a few miles away, but they are not yet saying if the two deaths are connected.