YOUNGSTOWN — Police are investigating the discovery of a body in a burning sport utility vehicle off the roadway in the 3300 block of McGuffey Avenue as a possible homicide.

The Youngstown Fire Department was called to the East Side location at 9:21 p.m. Wednesday for a brush fire but discovered the vehicle in the woods fully engulfed in flames.

While extinguishing the fire, they discovered a body in the rear cargo area of the vehicle. Youngstown police, the coroner’s office and the fire department’s arson investigator were called to the scene.

Because of the severity of the damage to the body, the victim’s age, race and sex cannot be provided until further investigation, police said. The make, model and color of the vehicle is also not known, according to a press release from the Youngstown Police Department.

An official ruling on the cause of death will be made by the coroner’s office after further investigation.

If the death is ruled a homicide, it will be the 16th this year. The city had 20 in all of 2019.