Authorities in Los Angeles are investigating a gruesome death at the city’s Griffith Park as a self-immolation incident.
A passerby alerted park rangers at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday after spotting a tree on fire and noticing a human body burning on it.
Police and firefighters responded to the scene and after extinguishing the flames, they pronounced the person dead.
Although an official identification of the decedent is pending, a spokesperson for the LA Fire Department said that the victim was a woman.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the decedent used to visit the park frequently and may possibly have been a transient.
Investigators said that foul play was not suspected and are currently probing the incident as a suicide.
“It appears to be self-immolation,” LAPD detective Michael Ventura said. “This is going to be somebody who brought some gasoline, brought some lighters. We have had…they are rare, but we do have cases where people will self-immolate.”
