Man found dead in burning car along Jasper County road. It wasn’t a crash, police say
Details remain sparse after an elderly Florida man was found dead inside a burning car near the Beaufort-Jasper county line, according to officials from the Jasper County Coroner’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Michael J. Caponero, 86, of Tampa, was pronounced dead at the scene Saturday, Jasper County Coroner Willie P. Aiken III announced. The car, a Jeep Liberty, was found “engulfed in flames” on the side of Kress Road, which connects I-95 and Highway 17 just south of Yemassee.
Neither the burning car nor Caponero’s body showed signs of foul play, according to Chief Jeff Crosby, spokesperson for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. There was no one else in the Jeep, which was parked on the side of the road and did not seem to have been involved in a crash, he said.
Crosby would not offer specifics about the cause of the fire. Although SLED’s Arson Unit was asked to assist, the incident is not necessarily being investigated as an arson, he said.
Speaking with police, family said Caponero had not been acting abnormally prior to his death. The 86-year-old had just visited one of his sons in Jacksonville, and was thought to be driving north to visit another before his car was found in northern Jasper County.
A representative from the Jasper County Coroner’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and SLED are investigating the death.
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This story was originally published April 18, 2023 at 2:26 PM.
