Police term body in driveway ‘suspicious death’

A woman in her 30s, discovered dead in the passenger seat of a black Kia by Burbank firefighters Friday evening, has been termed a suspicious death, officials said.

Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said firefighters found the body in the 500 block of North Sparks Street at 7:31 p.m., and alerted police.

He said officials were still attempting to determine what happened, and that the investigation would likely last well into the night and early morning.

“There are no obvious signs of foul play,” Ryburn said of the woman, whose identity was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. “We’re in the process of finding and talking to witnesses.”

However, a man who only identified himself as “a local business owner” said he knew the family, and that he believed the woman died of a drug overdose.

“I mean, I know,” the man said. “It’s a small town.”

Late Friday night, officers and investigators gathered in the driveway of the residence where the woman was found. The car and body would remain, Ryburn said, until Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials came to take custody of the body.