Car torched on St. Helena Island; only 1 digit of license plate recovered

A car was engulfed in flames as it sat abandoned on St. Helena Island early Sunday morning.

The fire was deemed suspicious after a deputy found the gas tank open and suspected a shirt or rag of some kind had been pushed inside to start the fire, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

Lady’s Island-St. Helena Island Fire District firefighters arrived to put out the fire to the gold Chrysler 200 sedan shortly after it was found around 6:30 a.m. on Penn Center Road near Ernest Drive, according to the report. The VIN was burned beyond recognition and the only thing left on the license plate was the last digit, “5.” Not even a state could be determined.

A Sheriff’s Office deputy searched the car after the fire was extinguished and found “no bodies in the passenger compartment or trunk areas” or any other evidence, according to the report.

This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Car torched on St. Helena Island; only 1 digit of license plate recovered."