A Virginia man is accused of killing his aunt and driving with her body across state lines, where he lit her car on fire and ditched it with the body inside over a mountainside.
Troopers responded to reports of a vehicle “fully engulfed in flames” on State Road 160 in Lynch, Kentucky at around 3 p.m. Sunday.
Police located the Toyota off the road, down a mountainside, and found a woman inside. The victim was later identified as 44-year-old Saundra Lee Moore.
Investigators believe Moore was killed inside her home in Appalachia, Virginia, after searching the home and discovering “evidence suggesting a violent incident that resulted in the death.”
“Based on information obtained throughout the investigation and a detailed interview with the suspect, the incident has been confirmed as a homicide.”
Moore’s nephew, 29-year-old David Wayne Stoneburner, allegedly gave detectives a statement “outlining the events that transpired.”
However, citing the ongoing investigation, police did not release details about the suspect’s statements other than revealing that the murder occurred during a “physical altercation.”
“Upon arriving at Lynch Mountain, Stoneburner placed Moore in the driver’s seat, intentionally set the vehicle on fire, and put the vehicle in motion, causing it to travel over the embankment,” police said.
Stoneburner faces murder charges in Virginia and arson and abuse of a corpse in Kentucky.
