Police stationed at the crime scene located in 1797 BC-97 where the crime scene blocks access to the paved road in 1797 BC-97. Police are investigating after two bodies were discovered inside a burning vehicle near Penticton on Thursday. Investigators have now determined the deaths are suspicious. A road off Highway 97 between Penticton and Trout Creek was closed for two days by police while they investigated the scene. Despite the gruesome discovery on Thursday, police did not release any information about the two bodies to the public until Saturday morning. RCMP said they were called after an initial report of a vehicle fire. Sgt. Chris Manseau said Penticton RCMP were notified Thursday after the Summerland Fire Department was called to the paved road off the highway at 1797 Highway 97, where they discovered two bodies and immediately contacted police. Penticton RCMP frontline and General Investigations Division officers arrived at the scene and the RCMP Southeast District Major Crime Unit was also brought in. The BC RCMP Serious Crimes Unit will take over the investigation. “This investigation is in its infancy as major crime investigators and medical examiners are deployed to the area to assist in the collection and analysis of evidence,” Manseau said. “At the moment the investigators are making efforts to locate the dead. No further details of their identities will be released pending their identification and the identification of their next of kin.” In August, emergency crews discovered two bodies in the wreckage of a burned-out vehicle on Garnet Valley Road outside Summerland. Police did not comment on whether there was a connection to this incident. The Southeast Regional Major Crime Unit is investigating this incident and said it is linked to a crash in the Lower Mainland. Police added that a vehicle was later reported on fire in Oliver, and investigators from both detachments are working together to determine if those incidents are related. Anyone with information about either incident is asked to call the tip line at 1-877-987-8477.
