Press Release  Body found in burning vehicle in Rowley

ROWLEY — A body was found early Friday in a burning vehicle in Rowley, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker announced.

Rowley Police reported that at about 12:56 a.m., they received a report for a vehicle crashed on a private driveway at 935 Haverhill St. The vehicle has no immediately known connection to that address.

First responders found the vehicle fully engulfed by fire and a single deceased occupant inside. The victim’s identity is being withheld pending confirmation and notification of next of kin.

Rowley Police Chief Scott Dumas said that about an hour prior to the crash, a Rowley Police officer spotted the same vehicle, parked across town on Stackyard Road. The officer spoke with the driver, assessed the driver as capable of continuing to drive and gave the driver directions back to the road leading to their home.

The officer then followed the driver on Route 133 into Ipswich before alerting Ipswich Police that the vehicle was passing through their town.

Rowley Police had no further contact with the vehicle until receiving the crash report at the location back in Rowley.

The crash is under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the Rowley Police Department.

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