Burned SUV found in Rock Bridge State Park

COLUMBIA — An investigation has been launched after the discovery of a charred and abandoned sports utility vehicle in the parking lot at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park.

The effort is being headed up by the Missouri State Park Rangers after the vehicle, a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer, was discovered Saturday morning.

The state Highway Patrol used the SUV’s vehicle identification number to trace it to an owner in Huntington, W.Va., where the vehicle had been reported stolen.

Missouri Park Ranger Alan Lancaster said rangers are working with the Missouri Highway Patrol, the Boone County Fire Protection District and the Boone County Sheriff’s Department to discover why and how the vehicle got to Columbia. He said that while the incident is suspicious, there is no foul play suspected.

By the time the vehicle was discovered, it had already burned past recognition, said Gale Blomenkamp of the Boone County Fire Protection District. Blomenkamp said his department was called to help investigate the cause of the fire, not to extiguish any flames.