Identity of body should be known on Tuesday

The body of the man found dead in a burnt out car near Owaka in south Oatgo on Sunday was taken to Dunedin today for a post-mortem examination.

Senior Sergeant Lane Todd, of Balclutha, declined to name the man. A passing motorist raised the alarm about 8am on Sunday after finding the burning car on the Southern Scenic Route.

Mr Todd said a specialist pathologist from Christchurch had been unable to make it to Dunedin to carry out the post-mortem examination yesterday because of the weather, but he was "reasonably confident" the body could be identified tomorrow from dental records.

Sixteen police officers, two scientists from the Institute of Environmental and Science Research and a fire safety investigator from Invercargill had been examining the scene since about 7am and expected to complete their inspection of the scene late tonight. .

Early indications were that nothing "untoward" had happened to the car, Mr Todd said.

However, the incident was still being treated as suspicious until investigations were complete.

- NZPA